Permanent Mistakes
by lucyhoneychurch
Summary: Willow wakes up in an er....unusual situation
1. Default Chapter

Waking Up Sober  
  
"Oh my God," Willow moaned in pain. Her head was pounding; her mouth was dry..and her stomach was rolling wildly. She stopped trying to get up from the soft bed in an effort to keep the contents of her stomach from making another appearance. 'Why did I ever let Buffy talk me into doing this?'  
  
She, Xander, and Buffy had decided that since the Hellmouth was closed, they deserved a rest and so the original Scooby Gang had gone to Las Vegas, Giles and the newly formed Watchers Council sending them on vacation. Soon, they had boarded a plane and were on their way. Once they got there, they had checked into their suite at the hotel (Willow wasn't sure how Giles had managed to get the presidential suite on such short notice), before hitting the slots and the craps tables.  
  
And then the drinking had started. It wasn't like Willow to drink quite so much but it had been a special occasion. She remembered little from the previous evening but she DID remember helping Buffy carry a passed out Xander to their suite before going back to the bar and to the extremely hot and very British man she had left downstairs.  
  
Headache aside, it appeared like she had had a good night.  
  
Quietly, so as not to disturb her head, Willow muttered a stomach calming charm and the bile that had previously been crawling steadily up her throat settled back into her stomach. She sighed, feeling a bit better and settled back into her pillow, absentmindly running her leg up the thigh of her bed partner.  
  
She froze.  
  
Bed partner.  
  
Oh my God.  
  
Apparently she hadn't left the man from downstairs alone. And, judging from the soreness in her muscles and the sated feeling that pervaded her entire body, it hadn't been just a good night, it had been a GREAT night.  
  
'OK,' she thought, looking around the room that was NOT the 3-bedroom suite that she, Buffy and Xander had checked into the previous day. 'Don't freak out. This isn't your room; you can be the one to leave,' she let a small, exasperated moan escape her lips. 'It could be worse, you could have married the guy.'  
  
Willow snorted at this last thought. 'Yeah, right. This may be Vegas but I'm sure I wasn't that drunk.' This was her they were talking about. Impersonating her vampire double? Yes. Trying to end the world? OK, that had been a bad mistake that she wouldn't be repeating. But getting drunk and marrying a complete stranger? When hell froze over.  
  
The man moved in the bed a bit next to her and groaned before turning his face toward her and burying himself into the sheets again.  
  
'Well,' she thought, a smirk growing on her face. 'You could have done worse Rosenberg. He certainly is a looker.'  
  
That he was. Whoever he was. He was tall, judging by the way his feet dangled from the end of the bed, maybe 6 foot 1 or so. His hair was black and he had the sweetest face..round and innocent, it made Willow want to kiss it all over. And as for eye colour..well, his eyes were closed but Willow briefly remembered that they were emerald green. She had been distracted and inebriated at the time so she couldn't be sure.  
  
Reluctantly, but knowing she had to leave before he woke up to avoid the embarrassing confrontation she was sure she was in for, she sat up and got out of the bed, blushing darkly at her nude body and the memories of how it got that way. 'Now where are my clothes?'  
  
She found them in a chair by the door to the room, piled haphazardly on top of his.whoever he was. With a sigh, she put on her underclothes and shirt before picking up her pants and putting those on. She frowned as a piece of paper fell out of the pocket of her jeans. Curious, she picked it up, unfolded it and read what it said.  
  
'Oh my God,' she thought, letting out a loud expletive. Apparently the population currently residing in Las Vegas were in for a treat because now, even in the hot desert heat of Nevada, they could all go ice-skating. Hell had just frozen over.  
  
Harry Potter was awoken by the sound of a women's loud expletive. Groaning, he burrowed his head farther into his pillow. 'Why did I let Ron and Hermione talk me into drinking so much last night?' he thought. Indeed, when Ron and Hermione had suggested a night on the town to get over his most recently break-up with Parvati Patil, he had agreed reluctantly. He had been starting to fall in love with Parvati, and her dumping him had probably hurt more than any of his previous relationships. In desperation to get their friend out of his depression, Ron and Hermione had dragged him out of his apartment with the promise of 'lots of fun and alcohol.' Harry hadn't questioned this. But man, was he ever questioning that decision now. His head was killing him.  
  
He frowned, ignoring his splitting headache. 'Why is there a woman yelling swear words in my room?' His head abruptly left his pillow and he looked toward the source of the noise.  
  
"Hello," he said quietly, purposely pleasant to avoid any arguments or scenes. "What are you doing in my room?"  
  
The woman, who was quite attractive with a trim, lithe body and red hair, frowned at him. "You mean you don't remember either?" She walked from the corner of the room and sat down on the corner of the bed near Harry's feet. "I, that is, WE," she stammered.  
  
Harry suddenly understood. A grin slowly appeared on his face at her discomfort. "Did we shag last night?"  
  
The woman burst into laughter. "You sound like Austin Powers when you say that with that accent." She quieted after a moment, bringing herself back to the topic at hand. "I'm pretty sure."  
  
Harry took a moment to digest this before sitting up in the bed and sticking a hand out to shake hers. "I know this is probably the wrong order to do things in but since I was too drunk to remember whether or not we already did this or not...I'm Harry Potter. What's your name?"  
  
Willow gave him a small smile, shaking his hand firmly. "Willow Rosenberg."  
  
"Well Willow Rosenberg, what were you trying to do, sneaking out of the room like that." He smirked. "And just what were you yelling about earlier? We only shagged, it's not like we got married or something equally as dramatic." His voice trailed off as he noticed her face. "We didn't, did we?" He asked in a scared voice.  
  
Willow dropped a piece of paper in his lap sullenly. "Sorry to disappoint you but..THAT's what I was yelling about. Seems we did a lot more than have sex last night."  
  
Harry sighed deeply, looking at the marriage license. Well, it could be worse. She was a muggle. If she had been a witch, it would have meant that they would have had to have stayed married. Indeed, marriages in the wizarding world were for life, despite the fact that the ceremony may have been a muggle one.  
  
"I know. It's a lot to take in. But..we can get it annulled. I mean it's Las Vegas for God's sake.if they can marry us in 10 minutes, they can divorce us in 10 minutes."  
  
He shrugged. He had only met the girl last night, but he liked her. Not enough to stay married to her though. Whoever she was, she wasn't prepared to be married either and this was quite frankly a relief. If they got it annulled that morning before breakfast, then Hermione and Ron wouldn't find out, thus saving him a world of teasing from them. "Just let me get dressed and we can get this over with," he said lightly.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Willow nodded. He was attractive, but lust alone did not a marriage make. Besides, how was he to deal with the fact that she was a witch? Hell, that vampires and other creatures did actually go bump in the night? This was for the best. And quite frankly, Willow Rosenberg was not one to subject anyone to a kind of life where you DID know about said bumps in the night. She wasn't even sure that, if given the choice, she'd choose to know herself. With a soft sigh, she got up from the bed, noticing that Harry was dressed and ready to go. Oh well, if they got this marriage annulled within the next hour or so, then she could meet Buffy and Xander for breakfast and they'd never know about this very embarrassing moment in her life, thus saving her an endless amount of teasing from them. And really, she thought as she followed Harry out of the room, she couldn't have chosen a better person to get married and annulled to. After all, he was British, in Las Vegas, so he was probably on a business trip or vacation. Either way it meant that he lived far away across the ocean.  
  
She would never have to see him again.  
  
She didn't know whether shout for joy or burst into tears.  
  
She would probably do both before the day was over with. 


	2. No Regrets

No Regrets  
  
"Willow!" Buffy called from across the hotel dining room where she sat with Xander. "Over here!"  
  
Willow Rosenberg (not Potter, having taken care of that 15 minutes ago before chastely kissing her ex-husband good-bye) walked across the room and sat down next to her two best friends. "How're you both doing this morning?  
  
"Good," Buffy chirped cheerfully. A groan came from Xander. Buffy scrunched her nose up. "Xander's not doing so hot though."  
  
"I am never drinking again!" he exclaimed nauseously.  
  
Willow frowned sympathetically. "Here Xander, let me take care of that." She said, muttering the same stomach calming charm she had used on herself that morning. Xander visibly perked up.  
  
"Hey thanks Wills. I feel so much better," he winced. "Except for the headache. That's still there."  
  
"Here," she murmured, reaching into her purse for aspirin and plopping two down on his plate of bacon and eggs. "I already had to deal with that problem this morning. Take those and have some more fluids and you'll be fine." She picked up her menu.  
  
Buffy looked at her mischievously. "Speaking of this morning..why weren't you in the room when we got up?"  
  
Willow blushed hotly. "Would you believe I went to get ice?" she squeaked out painfully.  
  
"No," Xander said through a mouthful of eggs. Apparently he was feeling better. "Did my Wills get laid last night?"  
  
"Xander!" she felt her blush deepen, if that were possible.  
  
Beside her, Buffy gasped. "You did!" Buffy brushed a fake tear from her eye and reached over to clasp Xander's hand in mock pride. "Our Willow is growing up Xander." She sniffed.  
  
"I know Buffy, I know. It just makes me so proud." Xander sobbed sarcastically.  
  
"Stop it you too. It was really embarrassing. Neither of us remembered anything.."  
  
"I'm sorry Wills it's just..I never thought it would be you pulling the one night stands and everything." Buffy said, taking a bite of her muffin.  
  
"I never thought it would be me either Buffy. Things got out of hand last night..." Willow trailed off, wishing she could actually remember how out of hand things had gotten..  
  
"Oh well, it was just sex. It's not like you got drunk, got married and THEN had sex with him.." Buffy continued.  
  
"That's true.." Willow trailed off; ignoring the speculating glance Xander was throwing her way as he noticed her slight hesitation in answering Buffy's comment.  
"Although that would have been totally normal, this IS Vegas after all, but somehow doing that seems really..."  
  
Willow tuned her best friend out as she tried to ignore the niggling feeling that this mistake would be coming back to haunt her sooner rather than later.  
  
Harry wrenched open the door to his flat in London tiredly, only to find Hermione and Ron sitting at his kitchen table, calmly sipping tea.  
  
"What are you two doing here?" he asked bitterly, pouring himself a mug of the blessedly caffenated beverage.  
  
Ron rose an eyebrow at the harsh tone Harry was directing at him, "Looking for you mate. We saw you run off with that redhead last night.didn't really get a good look beyond the hair. and then you just vanished! We came back here to wait before we called in the Aurors. After all, can't have Voldemort offing Hogwarts DADA teacher now can we?"  
  
"So Harry, where DID you go last night?" Hermione asked mischievously.  
  
A smirk grew on Harry's face and he shrugged.  
  
Ron gasped. "Harry..I know that look.! You got laid last night didn't you!?"  
  
Harry's only response was to blush.  
  
"I can't believe this," Hermione said in shock. "It was that woman, wasn't it? The redhead?"  
  
Harry nodded. "Not that either of us remember much of the experience. We were both pissed out of our minds."  
  
"Still.."Ron scoffed. "Good job mate! Way to get back on the horse!"  
  
"Ron," Harry scowled in the general direction of his best friend. "It was just sex. Good sex, from the little I remember of it but ultimately, just a shag."  
  
"But a one night stand Harry.."Ron continued smugly, "Good job!"  
  
"Well," Hermione broke into Ron's masculine congratulations, bringing her two friends back to the conversation they had been having, "it could be worse. It's not like you married her and THEN shagged her.  
  
Harry could have sworn he saw a speculative glint in her eyes. "Yeah. It could have been worse."  
  
And with that, he turned his attention to his tea, and away from the redhead that even now was haunting his thoughts. 


	3. Untimely Meetings

Untimely Meetings  
  
"Uh," Willow moaned and leaned her head over the toilet, her stomach turning on her as she vomited again. 'I should NOT have had that fish last night,' She thought. Finished, she let the spasms pass and stood up, swaying dizzily before grabbing the sink in order to keep herself from falling down.  
  
"Willow? Are you ok?" Xander asked, concerned, as he knocked on the bathroom door.  
  
"Yeah Xander. I'm fine." She called through the door. "Just let me get the blood back into my head," she muttered. This was NOT how she wanted to start the day. Heck, she didn't want to start ANY day this way but today was especially important. Today was Monday and she had a meeting with the Ministry of Magic in 15 minutes.  
  
She and Xander had taken jobs at the Watchers Council a month ago at Giles's insistence, helping him run the council in London while Buffy ran the School for Slayers in Cleveland with Spike, who miraculously had been resurrected by Wolfram and Hart months after his untimely demise.  
  
"Wills, are you SURE you're okay?" Xander asked through the door to the small bathroom Willow had in her corner office.  
  
"I'm fine Xander," she said wearily, coming out of the bathroom and flopping her body down onto the hunter green leather sofa that sat in the corner of her office, closing her eyes to stop the spinning she felt from such an abrupt movement.  
  
Xander eyed her speculatively. "No you're not Willow."  
  
"Yes, I am Xander. It's just stress. We've had a lot to deal with lately."  
  
"And you've been doing this for a week. It's time to see a doctor."  
  
"No, it's not. I'm perfectly fi."  
  
"Goddamnit Willow, no you're not! You passed out yesterday and you've been vomiting for the last week off and on. Something is wrong."  
  
Willow opened her eyes and sighed, looking into Xanders concerned and angry face. He was right. Something WAS wrong. Closing her eyes again, she placed a hand to her forehead and nodded in resignation. "I'll make the appointment tonight."  
  
"NOW Willow. Make the appointment NOW. We've got 15 minutes before the meeting. Do it."  
  
"Xander, why is this so important to you? I probably just have that stomach bug that's going around or something."  
  
Xander stood up and went to her desk, picking up her phone and her book of phone numbers and putting them on the coffee table before sitting down at the end of the couch and placing her feet in his lap. "Because I remember when Buffy's Mom was sick. She was passing out, getting sick, just like you are and that scares me." He was silent a moment. "You're my best friend Willow and.and we've lost too many people in the last six months for me to even THINK about losing you too." He reached over to the coffee table, picked up the book and her phone and placed them on her stomach. "Call the doctor."  
  
Willow glared at her friend and picked up the phone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Hermione Granger was on a mission. At 23, she was a researcher for the Ministry of Magic's Defence Council. Together with Ron, who worked as a strategist for the same council, they had helped to seek out and destroy many branches of Voldemorts followers. Thus it hadn't come as a surprise when Dumbledore had flooed her the other day to ask for a favour.  
  
Indeed, when Dumbledore had asked her to help change the direction of the war, she had jumped at the chance. She just hadn't thought it meant being his voice in the Muggle world.  
  
For now, this meant meeting with various organizations in the Muggle world that knew about magic and about the supernatural things that went bump in the night.  
  
Today, she was at the Watcher's Council in London, a council notorious for being conservative and unforgiving. Tomorrow, she was going to be meeting with Angelus O'Brien, C.E.O of Wolfram and Hart, who was on a business trip to London. Another very unforgiving company. With s sigh of frustration at the probably difficult battle she was going to have to face to get any form of help, she walked down the hallway to the office she had been told to meet the Ms. Rosenberg and Mr. Harris in. She stopped at the door of the office as she heard voices.  
  
"There, happy now? They were able to fit me in tonight at 5, after work."  
  
Hermione peeked into the office. A red-head lay on a green leather couch, looking as if she was trying really hard to blend in with the piece of furniture she was lying on, her feet resting on a strangely familiar mans lap.  
  
"Very happy. Thank you."  
  
"You're welcome," the woman said weakly and then turned a deeper shade of green, if it were at all possible. "Oh Goddess." And bolted to the bathroom.  
  
Hermione winced as the sounds of retching were heard even from where she stood in the hallway. With a sigh of regret at her timing, she knocked on the open door.  
  
"Come in," she heard the man call. She stepped into the room and gasped. "Xander? Cousin Xander?!"  
  
Xander eyes widened. "Hermione? What are you doing here? I haven't seen you for.what? 10 years? How are you?"  
  
Hermione grinned, pulling her cousin into a big hug. "Good. I'm working for the Ministry of Magic's Defence Council now. And it's been 13 years, FAR too long for one to be estranged from ones cousin."  
  
"Hey, I wasn't the one who went off to boarding school and never came home for major holidays.." He teased gently and small smile lit up his face. "Not boarding school then? Magic school?"  
  
Hermione nodded, a smile gracing her face now. "Yep, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."  
  
Xander frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Wish Wills had known about that school. She's a witch too. Self taught though." He winced as a second bought of retching came from the bathroom. "She's in the bathroom."  
  
"Is she okay?" Hermione asked in a concerned voice.  
  
Xander hesitated. "We don't know. She's seeing a doctor tonight but.I'm getting worried. She's been doing this all week."  
  
Hermione gave him a surprised look. "Really? That's not good. Is she your wife then?"  
  
"Willow? No," Xander scoffed. "Best friend since kindergarten. Granted everyone always thinks we're married. And yeah, we did experiment in High School but..that's a very long story. It didn't work and we decided we were better off as friends. BEST friends, but friends all the same."  
  
Hermione nodded. It was the same way with Harry and Ron, even down to the experimentation. It had been a very strange sixth year. She had dated not only Ron (a relationship that was doomed from the first date; they had decided after that first kiss that they were better off as friends) but also Harry (a slightly longer relationship, THREE dates and some snogs in the astronomy tower) but it just wasn't meant to be. Hermione remembered how they had laughingly broken up and given each other a hug, thankful that they were only friends again. She had moved on to Dean Thomas at that point, a very heated and passionate relationship that Harry and Ron still teased her about. Her thoughts were broken though by Willow's re-appearance into the room.  
  
"Wills? You okay." Xander said cautiously, helping his friend over to the couch.  
  
"Xander, for the last time, I'm fine. I'm actually feeling a lot better now." Willow rolled her eyes and turned on the couch to look at Hermione. "Hi. Who are you?"  
  
Hermione smiled brightly. "Hermione Granger. And you must be Willow Rosenberg. I'm from the Ministry."  
  
"Oh! How rude of me! You're the meeting! Have a seat, please." Willow gestured to the couch next to her and Hermione took the seat next to the redhead, Xander moving to the armchair.  
  
"So Wills, you remember back when we were 10 or so and my cousin Hermione and her family came to visit?"  
  
"Vaguely. It was a long time ago, but what does that have to do with.oh!" Willow clued in and turned to the woman sitting next to. "You're Xanders cousin? And a witch?"  
  
Hermione nodded. "Muggle born. I hadn't seen Xander for years. But, what with the war going on and all, it seemed important to reach out to the muggle communities that know about the wizarding world for help. That's why I'm here actually. I just didn't expect to meet my long lost cousin from America."  
  
Willow nodded sympathetically. "No one REALLY expects Xander, he's just a pleasant diversion from everyday life."  
  
"I think I'm offended," he teased.  
  
Ignoring his comment, Willow continued. "A reasonable request though. What kind of big bad are you fighting?"  
  
"A dark lord. He can't seem to stay dead." Hermione relaxed. It appeared that they might be receiving some help after all.  
  
From the armchair, Xander snorted. "Been there, done that. There's a box of those T-shirts we mass produced too..."  
  
"Xander," Willow scolded. "Be nice to your cousin. She's not used to you quite yet, especially after all these years." She turned the conversation back to Hermione. "So I assume you're asking others for help as well?"  
  
Hermione nodded "I have a meeting with Angelus O'Brien tomorrow, CEO of Wolfram and Hart."  
  
"Angel's in town?" Willow exclaimed, turning to Xander again. "Xander, why didn't Giles tell us Angel was in town? We'll have to look him up at some point."  
  
"Wait, you know him?" Hermione asked, perplexed.  
  
"Know him? I re-souled him. You knew he was a vampire right?"  
  
Hermione shook her head no.  
  
"Oh, well he is. Tell him Willow sent you and he'll do whatever you want." Willow stood, an idea popping into her head. "Do you have the research on Voldemort finished yet? What am I saying, of course you do, I bet you're into the strategizing portion now right?"  
  
Hermione simply nodded affirmatively.  
  
Willow nodded in return, walking to her desk and picking up the phone Xander had put back there. "What are you doing tonight about 5?"  
  
"Willow." Xander growled threateningly. "You're busy tonight."  
  
"Oh, right. How about tomorrow night, same time, here at Council Headquarters?"  
  
Hermione thought for a moment. "That's fine with me. Why?"  
  
Willow didn't' answer her, instead, picking up the phone and dialling. She put the phone to her ear, waiting as it rang and then. "Hello? Angel? Willow here, heard you were in London.well, you STILL should have looked us up.no, Giles is in Cleveland for a week..yes, Xander and I are fine.look, the reason I'm calling is that I know that you're meeting with the Ministry of Magic tomorrow..I was wondering if you were available to meet tomorrow evening at 5 instead of tomorrow morning..you can? Good. Here at Watcher Headquarters, 5 PM, you can take the tunnels..ok, thanks Angel, see you then." Willow hung up. "Ok, it's all set, you bring your people, we're bring ours and we'll compare notes over dinner."  
  
Hermione looked shell-shocked. "That's it? You're just going to help us? Just like that?  
  
Xander smiled gently. "It's okay Hermione. Everything's going to be fine. It's a different council. This one's actually here to help. And we want to help you. Besides, if this Voldemort guy started on the Muggle world, that would be bad right? Better to take him out now."  
  
Hermione smiled at this. It was going to be ok. She could feel it. 


	4. Unexpected Happenings

Unexpected Happenings  
  
"Well, Ms. Rosenberg, I have some good news and some bad news," Dr. Malcolm, a pleasant, attractive woman and the doctor that Willow had found to replace her old one here in London, said.  
  
Willow winced. She hadn't been expecting such a build up. Quite frankly she had expected Dr. Malcolm to tell her she was suffering from a bad case of stomach flu before sending her home. Five minutes and she was done. Instead, Dr. Malcolm had demanded a full examination, complete with blood and urine samples. She had been here for an hour already. "Give me the bad news first," she said quietly, worriedly.  
  
Dr. Malcolm sighed and sat down in the chair next to her. "Your red blood cell count is extremely low, that would be why you've been fainting, feeling light headed and suffering from fatigue lately." She shook her head in wonder. "I really don't know how you've been getting through the day with the lack of energy you should have been suffering from." She paused. "And now for the good news.."  
  
Xander sat on the couch in the flat he and Willow shared. With a sigh, he looked at his watch worriedly and put the book he had been reading down. She should have been back by now. He walked into the kitchen to put on the teakettle. Willow would probably want some tea by the time she got home. Tiredly, he rubbed a hand over his eyes. He hoped she was alright. After all they had been through..it didn't seem right that NOW something would happen to Willow.  
  
Suddenly, he heard the door to the flat slam. She was home.  
  
"Xander?" he heard her sob from the living room. Xander's brow furrowed. Oh God. His thoughts immediately went to the worst possible scenarios.  
  
"Wills? What happened?" he said, taking her into his arms and going to sit on the couch with her.  
  
"Xander. What am I going to do?" her face crumpled as more sobs racked her thin frame.  
  
"Oh Willow.what's wrong? What'd the doctor say?" He asked as Willow sniffled loudly.  
  
"Well, I have a really low red blood cell count. That's why I've been so tired lately." She snuggled deeper into Xander's chest.  
  
"Well that's not so bad. Why the tears? There's more isn't there?"  
  
Willow nodded sadly, tears running freely down her cheeks. She turned her head and looked into Xander's eyes. "I'm pregnant."  
  
Xander's jaw dropped. "Seriously? That's it?"  
  
Willow's eyes darkened with anger. "That's it? Xander, I'M PREGNANT! That's a lot!" She glared at him. "I can't believe you just said that."  
  
"Wills, I was thinking you were seriously ill, you know, cancer or something. But this..."  
  
"I know," Willow laughed through her tears, her anger calming. "I'm keeping it you know."  
  
He smiled gently. "I knew that. You're just that type of person." He was silent a moment. "It was that guy wasn't it? The guy from Vegas?"  
  
She nodded silently. "Yeah."  
  
"Are you going to try to contact him?"  
  
Willow shrugged and shook her head. "Xander, I only know his name and that he has a British accent. That doesn't narrow down the search at all." She laughed bitterly. "His name was Harry Potter. Do you know how many Harry Potters there are in the world? Hundreds! It's a very common name. And that's not even counting the different forms of the first name! I mean, if you count all the Harold and Harrison Potters out there, the list gets even bigger." Xander opened his mouth as if to say something and Willow stopped him with a pointed look. "And don't tell me that because he was British so that narrows down the search. Just because he has a British accent does NOT mean he lives in England. He could be someone that has recently moved to Canada or Australia, or anywhere for that matter." She shook her head. "No, I think I'm in this alone Xander."  
  
Xander hugged her close to him. "No you're not Wills. No you're not."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Harry Potter wasn't sure how Hermione had talked him into going to this meeting. It was Tuesday, a school night, and he had classes to teach in the morning. He did not have time to go gallivanting off to London with his two best friends to have a meeting with the Watchers Council and Wolfram and Hart. Quite frankly he wasn't sure what good it was going to do anyways; he, Dumbledore and the rest of the Order had been trying to defeat Voldemort for years with no luck, what could two organizations that specialized in demons and vampires do with a dark wizard?  
  
Sighing, he entered the Council building with Hermione, he and Ron trailing behind her until they reached a darkly lit boardroom. A man sat at the head of the table, leafing through a large dusty tome. He looked up as they walked in.  
  
"Hello. You must be from the Ministry of Magic," the man stood and went to shake their hands. "I'm Rupert Giles, Head of the Watcher's Council."  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Giles. I'm Hermione Granger and these are my friends and colleagues, Ron Weasely and Harry Potter."  
  
Giles' eyebrow rose at this last name. "Harry Potter? You have a vested interest in tonight's meeting then?"  
  
"Yes sir." Harry replied grimly. "Voldemort has been after me since I was one years old. There's a prophecy and everything. It appears that I am the only one that can ultimately kill him." Harry had come to terms with the prophecy over the last few years when Voldemort had found out about it. Well, he and the rest of the wizarding world. Somehow, the Daily Prophet had gotten hold of the information. Harry had never been so furious in all his life.  
  
A smirk grew on Mr. Giles' face. "Remind me to introduce you to my slayer, Buffy, some time Mr. Potter. I think you two would have a lot to talk about. She's been the subject of quite a few prophecies and lived to tell the tale. I'm sure that with our help, you'll achieve the same feat." He motioned for them to take a seat. "We just need a moment longer and then we can start the meeting. Xander and Willow are briefing Angel in her office."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Angel walked into the Willow's office, curious at why his meeting with the Ministry of magic had been moved to tonight and why the Watcher's Council was getting involved. He stopped just beyond the door. Something was wrong.  
  
"Willow? Why do you have two heartbeats?"  
  
Willow looked up from the conversation she had been having with Xander on the couch. "Angel, you're here. Good. Let me just get my notes and we'll tell you what's going on."  
  
Angel sat down in the armchair across from Xander as he watched her go to her desk and retrieve the notes. "You didn't answer my question Willow.why DO you have two heartbeats?"  
  
Willow winced and sat down again, folding her hands primly on top of the notes on her lap. "This wasn't how I wanted to tell people.I'm pregnant Angel."  
  
Angel's eyes widened and looked between the two former Sunnydalers. "Well congratulations you two.."  
  
Xander burst into laughter. "No. Angel, it's not mine. No, Wills and I are just friends."  
  
"Then how." Angel frowned.  
  
Willow blushed deeply.  
  
"Yeah Wills, why don't you tell Angel how this happened.." He teased.  
  
Willow burst into tears. The smirk that had formed on both mens lips at her blush immediately turned into looks of shock and concern.  
  
"Willow, I'm sorry. I'll shut my mouth. See? Teasing stopped. I'm sorry. Just stop crying. I'll be good." Xander said in a panicked voice, sharing a horrified look with Angel before moving closer to the sobbing woman and taking her into his arms.  
  
"No, Xander, I'm sorry. I don't even know why I'm crying. Damn hormones. It's just, this is such a bad situation." She looked up teary eyed at Angel. "It was a one night stand. Remember how Giles sent the three of us on vacation in August?" Angel nodded, remembering how he had helped Giles procure the hotel suite they had rented for the trio on such short notice. "Well, I got..pretty drunk and the next thing I know, I'm waking up next to this guy and.and.and there was a marriage certificate, but we got it annulled. but it's just one big mess now that I'm."  
  
"What?!" Xander interrupted, shocked that she had left such a big part of the story out the first time. "You got married?! Why didn't you tell Buffy and I?"  
  
Willow shrugged weakly. "Nothing to tell. We got it annulled that morning. Then I went to breakfast and I KNEW that you guys would never let me live it down and so I just, left that part out." She started crying again.  
  
"Are you going to tell the father?" Angel asked quietly. Of all the people that this could have happened to...  
  
Willow shook her head. "I only know his first name and it's INCREDIBLY common. We didn't exchange numbers, addresses or anything.." Fresh tears formed in her eyes and she buried her head into Xander's shoulder.  
  
Xander hugged her closer and sighed. "It's gonna be okay Willow. Everything's going to be fine." He couldn't believe the situation she had gotten herself into. If he EVER got his hands on the man that had done this to her..well, he wasn't sure what he was going to do. Obviously, neither one of them had wanted to be married and they were both drunk..he wondered what he would have done in the same situation. It didn't matter though. His best friend was hurting deeply because of this Harry Potters actions or lack thereof and therefore deserved to be hurt. How hard was it to remember a condom anyways, even if you were drunk at the time? With another sigh, he pulled the files from her lap and handed them to Angel. "Here's the information on this Voldemort guy Angel. Think the Judge but without the whole blue thing and a hell of a lot more magic."  
  
Angel absorbed this quietly, opening the first file and beginning to read as Xander calmed his friend down. After 10 minutes or so, he looked up. "What can I do to help?" 


	5. The Truth Will Set You FreeIn Theory

The Truth Will Set You Free..In Theory  
  
Hermione waited patiently in the boardroom. She was ready to start the meeting and Xander, Willow and Angel were 10 minutes late. Suddenly, she heard the door open and turned as it admitted her cousin and his friend Willow, followed by an attractive and pale skinned man that she assumed was Angel, CEO of Wolfram and Hart.  
  
Beside her, Harry continued his conversation with Mr. Giles, completely oblivious to the people that had just entered the room. She elbowed him sharply in the ribs and he turned.  
  
"Ow! Hermione, what was that for.." He stopped mid-sentence as the fire- haired goddess he had only three months ago gotten an annulment from entered the room. "Willow?"  
  
"Harry!?" Willow cried in shock. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Wait," Ron stopped their exchange, "You two know each other?"  
  
Willow blushed deeply. "Kind of. We sort off..."  
  
"Shagged?" Harry finished candidly, a smile lifting the corner of his mouth.  
  
"Harry!" Hermione scolded in shock, watching as Willow's blush deepened. So THIS was the redhead from Las Vegas.  
  
Xander, who had been standing in shock since Willow's exclamation at seeing who was in the room, suddenly found his voice. "Wait, THIS is Harry? Harry Potter? Guy you married in Vegas, Father of your child Harry Potter?"  
  
"XANDER!" both she and Angel yelled in disbelief at Xanders blatant disregard for keeping such private information secret.  
  
Willow turned worriedly to look at Harry. The smile that had been beginning to form on his face had disappeared and he had gone quite pale.  
  
"MARRIED?!" Ron and Hermione echoed through the silence that had formed at Xander's statement. They turned to their best friend, giving him a stunned look.  
  
"We got it annulled the morning after okay?" Willow said weakly to Ron and Hermione. "No big deal."  
  
"No big deal?" Hermione said in disbelief, turning to her. "Willow, you're a witch."  
  
Willow's eyebrow rose at Hermione's statement. "So?"  
  
"So," Harry broke in wearily, his hand going up to rub his eyes. "That means that we're still married. Marriages in the wizarding world are permanent." She looked at him blankly. "For life."  
  
"You mean." she said softly, "We're still married?" Harry nodded silently. Well, at least their child wasn't in any fear of being illegitimate. She felt the blood leaving her head and the room seemed to get colder. "Xander?"  
  
"Yeah Wills?" Xander said gruffly from beside her, glaring sharply at the man who had knocked his best friend up. There was nothing he would like to do more than hit Harry Potter right now, but he wouldn't. Willow wouldn't approve. Maybe if Angel did it...  
  
The black dots that had been forming in front of Willow's eyes began to get bigger and she knew that she wouldn't be standing up for long. "You better catch me. I think I'm gonna pass out."  
  
And with that, she did, the dots in front of her eyes taking over her vision and the world going black.  
  
She woke up on the couch in her office, desperately hoping that she had dreamt the entire encounter up. A hand passed over her forehead, brushing the hair of her damp brow. She opened her eyes and saw that she had her head in Harry's lap. No such luck.  
  
"Willow?" he said softly.  
  
"Mmmm?" she murmured, shutting her eyes again tiredly.  
  
"You okay?"  
  
"Mmm-hmm." She was silent a moment before opening her eyes again. "We have to talk about this now, don't we?"  
  
Harry shrugged, letting out a low chuckle. "Might be nice. We could always wait until the baby's born though.."  
  
She laughed quietly, letting out a low moan at the pain in her head that the laughter caused.  
  
"Shhh. Don't move. You've had a rough day."  
  
"So have you."  
  
Harry smiled sweetly at her. "Yeah, but I'm getting through it. It's not everyday you find out you're going to be a father." He was silent a moment. "About that.."  
  
Willow sat up hurriedly, wincing at the headache that was forming at her temple. "I know. I should have contacted you but I only found out last night and..  
  
"Willow." Harry silenced her with a soft kiss. "Stop worrying about that. It's not like we exchanged contact information that morning or anything. No, what I was going to say was that, if you'll let me, I'd like to be involved in the baby's life."  
  
Willow was stunned. She hadn't thought he would have wanted to. Tears formed in her eyes and she let out a small sigh of relief. "Of course you can. I wouldn't have it any other way." She gave him a smile through the tears that were now spilling onto her cheeks.  
  
Fumbling in his pocket, Harry handed her a tissue. "Here."  
  
She laughed again, taking the tissue from his hand and wiping her eyes. "So, I guess we're still married."  
  
"Yeah, I guess we are. What wizarding school did you go to by the way?"  
  
Willow frowned. "I didn't. I'm self-taught."  
  
"Self-taught? Well, then where did you get your wand? And your spellbooks?" Harry asked confusedly.  
  
"Wand? Spellbooks?" Willow furrowed her brow and arched an eyebrow at him. "I don't use either. See?" She levitated one of books that was sitting on the coffee table and moved it over to land in Harry's lap. She smiled sheepishly.  
  
Harry's jaw dropped. He had never seen something like that, not even from Dumbledore.  
  
"Where'd you go to school then?" she asked, disconcerted by Harry's lack of conversation at her levitation of the book.  
  
"Hogwarts. Do you mean to tell me that you don't use a wand at all?"  
  
Willow shook her head. "No. Never needed one."  
  
Harry shook his head in disbelief. This was definitely a conversation they were going to have in some length in the VERY near future.  
  
"So, what's happening at the meeting we so rudely interrupted with the airing of our dirty laundry?" Willow inquired quietly. One thing was for sure, if they were going to make this relationship work, they were going to have to get to know each other better. These awkward silences where neither knew what to say to the other were getting annoying.  
  
"Well, they were going back to the Voldemort issue I guess.I don't really know. I was here with you."  
  
Willow thought for a moment.  
  
"Thanks for that by the way. From the look on your face I thought you were going to bolt." She laid her head down on his shoulder "Harry, what are we going to do?"  
  
"I don't know. I've never done this before. I'm a teacher at Hogwarts and you work here in London.."  
  
"Long distance relationship anyone?" she broke in with a smile.  
  
Harry grinned. "Yeah. I guess I could come to London on the weekends.we could try dating.get to know each other a bit, I mean really, it's the least we can do for this baby.."  
  
Willow lifted her head and gave him a pointed look, although she heartily agreed with his sentiment of having parents for their child that actually KNEW each other and got along. "Dating?" She burst into laughter. "We have got to be the most mixed up people in the world, you know that? We're doing this COMPLETELY backwards. I mean, we got married, I'm now three months pregnant and we're only starting dating now."  
  
"Well, at least we're mixed up together.." He said softly, dropping another light kiss on her smiling lips.  
  
"Mmm. That was nice," she murmured into Harry's lips.  
  
"Yeah?" he smiled.  
  
"Yeah." She answered huskily, pulling him down for a searing kiss.  
  
Willow grinned internally. It was going to be alright. She didn't know a THING about him and quite frankly he didn't know a thing about her but she was willing to give it a try and, thankfully, so was he. 


	6. Christmas in England Part 1

Christmas in England Part 1  
  
"Yes Buffy. Xander and I will give your love to Giles...Yes Buffy, Xander and Giles will be there tomorrow morning...Yes Buffy...Um-hm...OK then, Merry Christmas, and give my love to Dawnie and everyone else...." With a sigh, Willow hung up the phone. She was lonely. Xander and Giles had left for Cleveland that morning to spend Christmas with Buffy and the rest of the Scooby gang. Willow had decided to stay in England with Harry. Indeed, in the last two months that had gotten closer, sharing their lives and her pregnancy. Well, as much as a couple could when one worked at a private school in Scotland and the other had a full time job with the Watcher's Council. Initially, Harry had been concerned for the safety of the baby what with the job that Willow had. She had assured him that nothing would happen, after all she did have a desk job now. Giles and Xander had insisted upon it. Willow rolled her eyes in memory. Between Giles, Xander, Harry, and Angel, who was in London on business trips quite frequently now, she was lucky she was ever allowed to leave the house, let alone work.  
  
"Willow?" Harry called from the doorway to her office, "You ready to go?"  
  
Willow nodded, standing up and reaching for her bag. Harry was too fast though.  
  
"No," he said, as he picked up the heavy bag. "You're not to be lifting heavy objects remember?"  
  
"Yes Harry," she muttered, rolling her eyes in exasperation.  
  
Harry raised an eyebrow at her tone. His wife was in a bad mood again. He would do well to tread lightly if he wanted to sleep next to her tonight.  
  
Their relationship had progressed rapidly in the last two months. There was a definite sexual attraction between the two of them; otherwise they wouldn't be in the situation they currently were in at the moment. However, there was also a friendship and...more that had developed. They had found they had quite a lot in common. Indeed, after the first month of dating, they were not only sleeping with each other again, but practically living together, her things gradually finding their way into his apartment at Hogwarts and a few of his into hers. The only reason she wasn't living at Hogwarts with him now was because it was unsafe for pregnant women to use the floo network after the 6th month or so. Come January, the flip-flopping weekends they had been visiting each other on would have to stop and he would have to visit her every weekend. If she wanted to continue to work with the Watcher's Council, it was simpler that she stay in London at the moment, despite the danger Harry felt she was in. After all, Voldemort was still out there, the plan that the Order and the Council had come up with was not ready yet, and she was his wife. The wife of Voldemort's number one target and the mother of what would become Voldemort's number two target. Dumbledore had had a chat with him before he left for the holidays that morning about a solution to their situation though, one which he felt Willow might be amenable to. He would present it to her later though; she seemed to be in a snit at the moment.  
  
"How about this then?" he said in a suitably pecked manner, taking his wand out and shrinking the bags. With a small smile he handed them to her. "NOW you can carry them."  
  
Willow raised an eyebrow. "Thank you," she said dryly, taking the bags from him and placing them in her suit jacket pocket.  
  
"How've you been feeling love?" Harry asked in a concerned voice as he ushered her out the door of her office.  
  
Willow shrugged and gave him a grin. "The morning sickness has ended I think. I haven't felt nauseous for a week at any rate."  
  
"Good," Harry said, genuinely pleased. Willow had been quite ill for the past two months; her morning sickness lasting longer than what the doctors at St. Mungos had said it would. Even the potions he had brought for her from Professor Snape hadn't helped. Indeed, Professor Snape and Willow had gotten along famously on the weekends she had visited him at Hogwarts. After he and Willow had found each other again, the Professor had offered to tutor her in magic with a wand. Being a friend of Mr. Giles, this had been arranged easily, and now his wife almost regarded him as another father figure. Willow seemed to attract those sorts of people to her though. Mr. Giles, Professor Snape, as well as most of the staff at Hogwarts had immediately grown to know, love and want to protect Harry's wife. This was a good thing too because Willow seemed incapable of staying out of trouble. It was only when Mr. Giles, Xander and Angel had convinced her to only do the desk work at the Watchers Council that Harry had been able to stop worrying.  
  
"When are Arthur and Molly expecting us?" Willow asked as he helped her into the car he had bought for when he was in London. They were driving to the Burrow from London instead of flooing. Harry, in Willow's opinion, was treating her like a piece of china needlessly but she did have to admit, it was nice to not have to floo. She didn't like it much at all.  
  
"Anytime this evening. I didn't give them an exact time. For dinner I should think," Harry chirped happily, he was excited about seeing the Weasely family after the months he had spent at Hogwarts teaching. And they had never met Willow. They had heard of her of course, the story of Harry's abrupt marriage and the fact that Willow was expecting had somehow been leaked to the press about a month ago. Harry had had a very embarrassing howler delivered to Hogwarts one morning from Molly, berating him for not informing her that he and Willow were expecting, let alone married. The staff had had a field day with THAT incident. He hadn't heard the end of it for weeks. Luckily, the Daily Prophet had NOT gotten a hold of the story behind how he and Willow had met and married. Harry gulped audibly and Willow shot him an inquiring look. He shook his head to let her know nothing was wrong. After all, their one nighter might be an interesting story to tell over Christmas but NOT to wizarding England. From beside him, Willow slumped in her seat, a yawn escaping her.  
  
"Why don't you take a nap....you look tired," he reached a hand and placed it over her own.  
  
"I am tired. The baby discovered this week that it can punch me at odd hours of the evening and so my sleep has been greatly disrupted," Willow smiled tiredly. "Maybe I will take a nap though...wake me when we get there?"  
  
Harry nodded affirmatively and watched out of corner of his eye as she leaned her seat back and curled into a ball on her side, closing her eyes. She fell asleep within minutes.  
  
"Willow," Harry shook his wife softly. "We're here."  
  
Willow sat up abruptly. "Really? That was fast."  
  
Harry chuckled softly. "Well, you slept the entire way here. Had a good nap love?"  
  
Willow smiled tiredly. "Yes. Yes I did. What time is it?"  
  
"About 6. Just about time for dinner," he said with a smile as he got out of the car and opened the door for her. "You ready?"  
  
She shrugged. "As ready as I'll ever be. Do you think they'll like me?"  
  
Harry squeezed her hand tightly. "They'll love you. You're just the type of girl that they always dreamed I would bring home for Christmas."  
  
Willow gave him a sceptical look. "Really?"  
  
Harry nodded sagely. "Really really."  
  
They had reached the door to the kitchen when it was flung opened.  
  
"Oh I thought it was you!!" Molly cried exuberantly. "Come in, come in, you two must be exhausted after the drive." Harry and Willow followed Molly into the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready in a half hour or so. Everyone's in the living room," she turned a warm smile on Willow. "And you must be Willow. We've heard so much about you- not from Harry though." She gave a glare at the person in question. "We had to hear about it from the Daily Prophet before Harry told us."  
  
Willow smirked at her husband, who was looking at the ground sheepishly. "You didn't tell her then? How bad of you Harry."  
  
Harry just gave her an amused glance.  
  
"Oh! And look at you dear! Why I remember when I was pregnant with my first child, Bill, but you're so small dear! It must be a girl...I was always so big with the boys...I have 6 you know, boys that is. Only one girl. How far along are you then?"  
  
Willow smiled genuinely at the warm and caring woman that Harry regarded as a mother. "About 6 months now. I'm due in April."  
  
She was interrupted in their conversation with Molly though by Hermione's entrance in the kitchen.  
  
"Willow! Harry! You're here!" Hermione swept them both into a hug. "Sorry to steal them Molly, but everyone's waiting to meet the woman that stole our Harry's heart."  
  
Willow raised an eyebrow and turned to Hermione. "That's what they think?"  
  
Hermione blushed deeply. "Well, Harry, Ron and I are trying to keep the truth out of the papers. We thought it would be better this way...less embarrassment."  
  
"Well, it's true in a way," Willow nodded in agreement. "It just wasn't his heart I stole...."  
  
With this comment hanging in the air and the laughter it brought forth coming from the lips of Hermione, Harry and Willow, they excused themselves to the living room, as Molly finished preparing dinner.  
  
"So where did you two meet?" Bill asked a half hour later as the entire family ate dinner.  
  
Hermione and Ron began to snicker. Harry shot them a warning look before glancing at Willow. Her eyes were twinkling in humour.  
  
"Oh please, let me tell it?" She asked Harry with a grin, who nodded cautiously. She turned her twinkling eyes and mischievous smile on the Weasely family. They had accepted her into their family so easily, it only seemed fitting that they hear the entire truth. "Well, Harry and I met in rather unusual circumstances. It was all rather quick actually. He just....swept me off my feet."  
  
Hermione and Ron were snickering harder now. Molly shot them a warning glare.  
  
Willow paused. "My friends and I were on vacation in Las Vegas and I met Harry at one of the casino bars. He was there with Ron and Hermione. Anyways, we had a little too much to drink."  
  
Fred started to laugh. "Don't tell me what I think happened happened...."  
  
Harry cocked an eyebrow at Fred. "It's all your brothers fault that he and Hermione let me drink so much."  
  
"Yes well," Willow continued. "The next morning, we wake up next to each other." Whoops of amusement rose from the table. "But that's not all. We'd gotten married." She took in the shocked looks that had replaced the amusement on their faces. "Anyway, long story short, we got it annulled."  
  
"But, you're still..." Bill frowned. This was the oddest love story he had ever heard.  
  
"Married? Yes I know." Willow chirped happily. "We met again at a Board Meeting, realized that because I was a witch and he was a wizard that we were actually still married, and the rest is history."  
  
"What about the baby dear?" Molly questioned Willow. Quite frankly, this was NOT the kind of marriage that she had hoped for for Harry. But they seemed to care for each other so....maybe it would work.  
  
Willow shrugged and gave a grin to her almost mother in law. "The baby was a product of that night," she exchanged a look and a smile with Harry, who had reached over to clasp her hand.  
  
Harry placed a light kiss on her cheek before turning to the group. "We're awfully happy about it though."  
  
A sigh left the lips of the women in the group. It was an odd story yes, but apparently the two of them had made it work, their one nighter turning into something more. 


	7. Christmas in England Part 2: Perspective...

Christmas in England Part 2: Perspectives on A Perspective Life  
  
Harry Potter was scared. He'd been scared before in his life; when his friends had been threatened, or when he was almost killed by Voldemort once a year...but this was nothing compared to the fear he felt now.  
  
He was going to be a father in 3 months and this scared the shit out of him. And now, as he lay in his bed at the Burrow, waiting for sleep to claim him and holding his wife close, the reality of the situation finally sat heavily upon his chest, spurred on by the Weasley's obvious acceptance of Willow and their perspective child into the family. He had no idea what he was doing.  
  
He loved Willow. Well, he hadn't when the baby had been conceived, but they loved each other now...but were they ready for this absolutely HUGE addition to an already shaky and new relationship?  
  
He snorted softly. Did it matter? Not like they had the choice or anything. And he wasn't the type to even consider either abortion or adoption, despite the threat that Voldemort still posed to his friends and family. This child hadn't done anything to deserve the kind of life that Harry had himself lived, and he wasn't about to tell his own offspring that Daddy had walked away from them because he was a selfish prat. This thought sobered him somewhat. Indeed, he had given this subject a fair amount of unconscious thought as he went about the business of teaching class everyday, attending Order meetings and keeping track of his often-in-peril wife eventually coming to the conclusion that despite his fear of screwing this child up somehow (Willow had assured him that this wasn't possible unless he decided to run off or something...Harry thought she might have been half serious at the time...) he wouldn't change their situation for the world.  
  
But the fact remained that he didn't know what he was doing. He hadn't had a father growing up and so he didn't have a basis for comparison. And Uncle Vernon certainly didn't qualify for this position. HE wouldn't be putting his child in broom cupboards for instance. And they would be loved. They would have their own room, their own toys, and the love of two parents who loved each other.  
  
Which brought him to the next thought that had been crawling around in his brain for the past month: just what were he and Willow? Truth be told, he didn't know. He had grown to love the redhead in the time that they had been together. And this, he had to admit to himself, was definite cause for concern.  
  
Willow and the baby were a liability in his life, something that Voldemort could and would use against him, and definitely something that he had promised himself he was stop acquiring when Voldemort had started killing his loved ones. But now that he had them...he would die before he'd let anything happen to them.  
  
From beside him, Willow muttered in her sleep and stirred lightly. She hadn't been sleeping well lately at all, the baby becoming extremely active at this time of evening and disturbing her slumber.  
  
"You're thinking too loud," Willow murmured quietly to her husband.  
  
"Well look who's awake," Harry drawled lightly. "The baby kicking?"  
  
"Like a fiend." She groaned, wrapping an arm around Harry's bare chest and burrowing her face into his side. "What were you thinking about?"  
  
"Mmm? Nothing...just...stuff." He said awkwardly.  
  
Willow's head came up and she shot him a smug look. "Right. Try again Mr. Potter. This time with feeling."  
  
"OK, fine," Harry sighed. It was funny. They had only really known each other for less than half a year, yet Willow could read him as well as Hermione or Ron could, and he had known them going on 13 years. "I was thinking about...us."  
  
"Us?" Willow said amusedly. "What about us?"  
  
"You, me, the baby..."Harry paused. "Voldemort. I was just wondering how we're going to get through the next year of so."  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Willow furrowed her eyebrows at him. "We'll do fine. I mean, we've got both the Watcher's Council and the Ministry on this Voldemort situation." She paused, looking up at Harry's concerned look. "Is this about you and I and our personal relationship, or is this about your overprotective tendencies?"  
  
Harry looked amazed. "How do you do that?"  
  
"Do what?" Willow smirked, knowing that she had hit the nail on the head with that last statement.  
  
"Know exactly what I'm thinking." Harry murmured, placing an impulsive kiss onto her forehead.  
  
Willow shrugged lightly and grinned. "You try having the slayer for a best friend and not to be able to identify EXACTLY when she begins to shut down in order to, and I quote, 'save others by pushing them away.' But you've never met Buffy have you?"  
  
Harry shook his head. He hadn't ever met the slayer but he had heard so much about her from Giles, Angel, Xander and Willow that he felt like he did. "She does that too?"  
Willow nodded her head briskly. "And how. But you Harry Potter, you are worse. I've never met someone who liked guilt so much as you do."  
"Excuse me?" Harry asked in a shocked voice. She was right of course and Hermione and Ron had called him on this many times but it somehow felt worse coming from ones wife.  
  
"You heard me. You love to feel the guilt. Gives you something to brood about. And don't tell me you don't brood." Willow continued, fixing him with a glare before going on. "Buffy does too. Worrying about a situation and brooding about it does not fix the problem."  
  
"Willow," Harry cut in awkwardly. "Not that I'm underestimating Buffy or anything, but I have a Dark Lord after me who would love nothing more than to kill you and our unborn child. I'm pretty sure Buffy's never dealt with anything like this before with such heavy ramifications."  
  
"Oh really?" Willow laughed indulgently, purposely sounding patronising in order to deflate some of the hero complex that was gradually growing around Harry as it always did when he became noble. "Remind me to leave you and Buffy alone to exchange some war stories sometime. I'm too tired to prove myself right." She sighed as she took in Harry's triumphant look, the one that he always got when he thought he had won an argument but she decided to let it pass for the moment. "Look, the baby and I will be fine. You don't need to be concerned for us. Voldemort stands no chance."  
  
"And how do you know that?" Harry murmured, knowing that they wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon unless they talked this out.  
  
Willow rolled her eyes. Well, the baby-and Harry it seemed- wanted her awake, so she would be, at least for the time being. "I just do okay? Ron and Hermione are brilliant strategists and Giles too. Hell, Angel was one of the Scourge of Europe and he's willing to help WITH, I might add, Wolfram and Hart to boot." Suddenly a thought occurred to her, one that had been rolling around in her head for a month now but that she was hesitant to suggest due to its dangerous nature. "And I have some skills you could benefit from, if you want to take him down that is." Indeed, these 'skills' were the ones that Willow had picked up from her journey into the realm of darkness she had taken with Rack. She knew things now that could make even the straightest hair curl and that Harry would benefit from if he hoped to defeat the Dark Lord.  
  
That had also been a revelation to her, knowing the prophecy. Well, everyone knew the prophecy now since the Daily Prophet had put it in print but this revelation HAD stalled Voldemort slightly; he had more to lose if he lost the battle and now had become more calculating in his attempts to neutralize the threat Harry Potter posed to his plans of world domination.  
  
All this aside however, Willow had come to realize in the past few years that you had to fight fire with fire and if that meant getting your hands dirty than you should do so. Therefore, she had immediately thought of teaching Harry darker magic to counter the potential threat of Voldemort. But there were ramifications to this action, Willow knew. If improperly and quickly learned, dark magic had the potential to eat its user alive in its potency. Indeed, the power inherent in such spells was a rush not just experienced with white magic, at least the simple kind and Willow only wielded the more complicated type when she was forced to. Certainly not when she was pregnant either.  
  
The problem with teaching Harry would not come from the threat of addiction though. Willow was more concerned about his reaction to her dependence to the darkness and her subsequent trip off the deep end after Tara's death that would come from the lessons. Harry was aware of none of this. He knew her girlfriend had been murdered but in the past few months Willow and her husband had been preoccupied with other things like Voldemort and her pregnancy to actually sit down and talk about all the gory details of their pasts. Willow had a feeling Harry too had skeletons in his closet. No, in the past few months their relationship had very often been a physical and superficial one. (This had been in part to the hormones that now constantly raced through Willow's veins, and of course to the newness of the relationship.)  
  
Willow knew that if she broke down and told him about her past that the relationship would not go away; Harry already loved the baby too much for that to happen entirely, but she was positive that this bearing of her soul would ultimately lead to the end of the honeymoon period and a return to real life and she wasn't sure she wanted to do that.  
  
"Look, can I talk to you about this in the morning?" Willow asked, deciding to deal with this tomorrow for one because she didn't want to attempt a conversation like the one they needed to have this late in the evening and for another because the baby had finally stopped kicking and looked like it might give its mother some much needed rest.  
  
"The baby finally stopped kicking?" Harry smiled nervously, secretly happy that this conversation appeared to be over. Indeed, they hadn't gone over many aspects of their pasts with each other yet and he was concerned for what her reaction would be to his childhood, the ongoing battle with Voldemort, and the sometimes eclectic nature of his past relationships. He was quite positive too that Willow had something to hide from him as well.  
  
But for now, Willow simply nodded and snuggled down against his chest for the second time in the past hour. Harry tightened his grip on her and brought the covers up to cover them, silently thanking whoever was listening for the woman-and whatever baggage she quite obviously carried- in his arms and the child that they had mistakenly but ultimately miraculously created. They would talk tomorrow. 


	8. Overrated Peril

**Permanent Mistakes Chapter 8: Overrated Peril**

It was a typical day at the office. Well, typical if typical meant averting potential apocalypses but for Willow Potter nee Rosenberg and Xander Harris, this WAS typical. Indeed, just that morning Giles had run off to catch a plane to Cleveland, new home to Buffy and the rest of the Scooby Gang-and a great big hellmouth that was shortly going to open up. It seemed that the demons of the world had yet to get an original idea.

At any rate, it made Willow and Xander's job easier. They knew how to close hellmouths. They had been designated researchers in this task as a) they had been left in charge of the council in Giles' absence and couldn't leave England, and more importantly, b) Giles had not allowed Willow to travel with him to Cleveland and Xander was staying to keep an eye on her.

Willow inwardly grumbled as she looked down at herself. Now 7 months pregnant, she was starting to fill out finally and, much to her chagrin was rapidly approaching the no apparating point, having kissed flooing good-bye a month ago. Sure she could still go on an airplane but this, Harry had said (and Giles and Xander had agreed with) left her open to attacks from Deatheaters that could be written off as mere accidents. This had caused her a fair amount of anger that she was now taking out on her best friend who sat across from her at the long table in the Council Library.

With a sigh she looked up from her burgeoning belly and the source of her misery and glared at Xander, who was looking at her in amusement.

"What?" Xander gave her a look over his reading glasses, a necessary evil now that he had had his eye replaced. Despite modern wizarding advancements, the new eye gave him headaches if he read for quite awhile without the glasses and in dim light. Xander had jokingly reported after learning of these side affects that he had entered the wrong business.

"This is all your fault," Willow said sullenly, slumping down in the desk chair and deepening her glare.

"My fault?" Xander exclaimed defensively. "How is this my fault?"

"If you hadn't let Giles keep me off the plane you and I would be in Cleveland right now…" Angry, she dropped the book she had been perusing for any references to the master vampire trying to open said hellmouth succinctly, making the solid sound echo within the large pseudo drawing room the Watcher's called a library.

"Willow," Xander tiredly took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly. It was 2 in the morning and they had been at this for hours, Willow steadily getting more and more irritated as she researched and Xander's patience with his best friend wearing thin. "You know what would happen if we placed you on a plane. We're just all worried about your health."

"My health?!" Willow spat out, getting up from the chair and going to the small fridge kept in the bar in the corner and pulled out a bottle of water. "My health is just fine thank you very much. I don't see why you all find it necessary to cage me just because there happens to be a dark wizard out there." She took a sip of her drink and took another bottle out of the fridge, tossing it to Xander. Even angry, she was still able to see that her best friend had been working as hard as she was and needed a drink. He deftly caught it as she continued. "I can take care of myself you know."

"Yes I know," Xander replied wearily, opening his own bottle of the cold water and taking a long gulp before turning his best debating skills- be they what they were- on his frustrated companion. "But Willow, you have to understand that in a closed area like that, it would be very easy for a Deatheater to just put a spell on the plane and have it crash in the middle of the ocean. They'd make it look like an accident."

"You and Giles have no proof that that would happen. Despite the fact that I'm married to Harry Potter and I'm having his child, there have been no attempts on my life," Willow argued adamantly.

"Yet," Xander finished quietly, gravely. Indeed, things had been too quiet lately, leading both the Order and the Council to believe that Voldemort would strike soon.

"Spare me Xander," Willow snapped equally as quietly back to him.

Across from her Xander rolled his eyes and tried a different approach, deciding to call upon the job offer that had fallen into Willow's lap Christmas day and that she had relayed to Giles and Xander, who thought it was a wonderful solution to the security of both Willow and the baby. "Have you given any thought to Dumblefore's offer?"

"Xander, there is no way I'm giving up my job to go spend the next year living in Harry's apartment at Hogwarts and playing June Cleaver to his Ward. You've got to be kidding me." Willow replied sullenly, knowing how miserable she would be in that role. Oh she knew that Harry wouldn't force her into it, couldn't really, but it was becoming a near thing. Her husband was deeply concerned for her safety, even going so far as to send his friend and mentor Mad Eye Moody to go through Willow and Xander's apartment for dark artifacts or incendiary devices that may (or may not, Willow thought sullenly) have been planted there by the Dark Lord. Xander, Willow thought, had become paranoid after that incident a few days after he had gotten back from Christmas in Cleveland and that had been when he and Giles, also spooked, had begun hassling her to take a new job closer to Harry. Willow snorted in amusement. As if she needed the protection. But Harry didn't know this. She STILL hadn't gotten around to baring her dark past to her naively innocent husband therefore he didn't know that she was MORE than capable of taking care of herself. Xander and Giles though……Willow rolled her eyes. Men were such babies. One dark wizard tries to take over the world and they all ran to protect the women-folk.

Frustrated and realizing that he was getting no where with convincing his best friend to put herself in a more protected position, Xander tried again. "That wasn't what he offered and you know it," he looked down at his hands. "A teaching position Willow. At Hogwarts. Teaching a brand new course on the magic you know best. You like teaching. Remember Sunnydale? This could be good for you and the baby." Willow didn't respond to this so he continued. "And you'd be safe." Xander shook his head in amazement at what he had just said. When had they ever been safe? Ever since they had been in High School they'd been in danger. Even after the Hellmouth sucked the town into the ground they had been in danger; L.A. hadn't been a bed of roses, nor had Cleveland but Xander could reasonably explain the phenomenon behind the evil's that plagued the areas. Hellmouths and large cities always created problems. Of course it didn't help matters though that they seemed to attract danger… "God Will, of all the men you had to marry in Vegas and get knocked up by you had to find the Buffy Summers of the wizarding world, the most imperiled wizard of his time…."

Willow's lips curved from the sullen look that had been gracing her face off and on for the last 5 minutes to a small smile at Xander's last words. "Imperiled Xander? Big word for you…"

Xander, sensing that his friend had just reached the bend in the hormonal roller coaster her pregnancy was causing, was quick to grasp the better mood that had emerged from the anger and frustration brought on by her mobility restrictions said pregnancy had induced upon the mother to be. "Well it's late. Too late for typical Xanderisms of the shorter than average persuasion. However it is never too late, heck, it's expected, for long words and the inevitable Gilesism's inherent in the speaking of said words especially when you're researching potential world destruction." He paused. "Speaking of late, we should probably be getting you and Xander Jr. home to bed."

Willow smiled indulgently at this late part of Xander's nearly intellectual babbling, used to hearing his teasing pleas as to the naming of her offspring. "Xander, for the last time, I'm not naming the baby Xander, or Alexander or Alex or Alexandra or whatever versions of your name or Buffy's there are." She paused. "Besides, her name is Kathryn. It's a girl."

"You and Harry found out the sex then?" Xander looked surprised. He knew that his best friend and her husband (a man that Xander was reluctantly coming to respect and like for his respect and growing-if not complete-love of Willow) had been to the medi-witch recently but he hadn't known that they had found out if they were having a boy or a girl.

Willow shook her head negatively, dashing Xander's speculations to bits. "No. I just have a feeling that it's a girl. Don't ask me how, I just know."

"What does Harry think?" Xander asked, smiling at Willow's response to his question.

"Harry doesn't care as long as it's healthy," Willow said, stifling a yawn. "But he thinks it'll be a boy." She paused, remembering the amusing argument that had occurred on Christmas day with the Weasley family over the sex of the child. "We've a bet going on the subject. If it's a girl, I get to name it and vice versa." Willow was broken from her impromptu telling of the bet between her husband and herself with a yawn that she couldn't stop from emerging from her weary body.

Seeing this and glancing at his watch again to confirm that it was indeed a little past the 2 o'clock hour, Xander sighed and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Willow furrowed her brow in confusion, taking another sip of her water.

"Home," Xander said firmly. "To put you to bed."

"Xander, I'm not," Willow's response was broken by another yawn, therefore negating the sincerity of the response she was about to give to what she felt was an absolutely fabulous idea. "Tired."

Xander rolled his eyes and his best friends antics. Liar. "And monkeys fly out my ass. C'mon Will. We'll research more tomorrow. The apocalypse isn't due for a week or so and your husband will kill me if he shows up tomorrow and you have great big bags under your eyes and are yawning every five minutes. Not that he doesn't subject me to the same Willow when he leaves on Monday mornings," he tossed Willow a knowing grin as he helped her up from her chair and handed her the jacket from the spare chair they had thrown them into when they had entered the library 12 hours ago. "Who knew Willow Rosenberg was such an insatiable sex crazed monster?"

From beside him, Willow blushed deeply. Yes it was true that when Harry came for the weekend or vice versa, very little got done beyond a little one on one bed action. Or desk action. Or kitchen counter action (but they hadn't told Xander this). Or….Willow stopped her train of thought as the memories started to arouse her and she remembered that her best friend was still standing next to her, smirking at where he knew her mind was immediately going. "Well," she started as she watched Xander turn the lights off, lock the door to the library and began to walk down the dimly lit corridor to the front doors of the Watcher's Council. "You try living as one huge hormone for nine months. I swear it's a wonder I haven't melted into one giant orgasm. Pregnancy has really done a number on my libido. When Harry's here we…"

"Whoa," Xander broke in abruptly teasingly. "Too much information. I love you Wills but I honestly don't want to hear the sordid details of your sex life."

"Who said anything about sordid?" Willow teased right back, "Let's not forget that you're Mr. Girl of the Week himself. I mean, my God Xander, the number of girls you've brought back to the apartment."

"I know," Xander said glumly. "If only they would want to go beyond friendship."

"Are you serious?" Willow deadpanned, having thought for months that Xander's sex life was blooming impressively.

"Uh-huh," Xander continued. "They all want to talk about their feelings and the fact that 'isn't it nice to find a guy who doesn't want what every guy wants?' No pressure ladies." They stopped outside the Council's Headquarters in downtown London as Xander turned his eyes on Willow. "Do you know the last time I got laid?"

Willow bit her lip to hold in the laughter she wanted to give in to. "No Xander, I don't."

"A year ago," Xander turned to the door and locked it before holding an arm out for his best friend to take before they began the block and a half walk to their penthouse at the top of a nearby apartment building.

Willow was silent a moment as she fought the battle with laughter yet again, losing this time.

"Go ahead Mrs. I'm-getting-laid-on-a-regular-basis-Potter," Xander ranted sarcastically. "Laugh at my patheticness."

"Oh Xander I'm sorry," Willow tried to reign herself in. "It's just that…"but Xander had suddenly gone rigid next to her. With a questioning look on her face, Willow looked over towards where his eyes were frozen and the breath caught in her lungs. The waiting game was over. The Deatheaters had found them.


	9. Confrontations and Serendipity

**Permanent Mistakes Chapter 9: Confrontations and Serendipity **

Hello again. Here's a new chapter. What can I say? My muse is back....  
  
Anyways, join my yahoogroup here if you're interested.

http: groups. yahoo. com/ group/ firegoddessHPBtVS fanfiction  
  
As of this evening we were 88 members strong (and hopefully growing....)  
  
Happy reading!

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Willow put on her resolve face, having gotten over the shock of seeing the Deatheaters calmly waiting for her and Xander to leave the building. Stalker-esque behaviour indeed. At any rate, it seemed by their stance and the fact that they all had their wands drawn that she and Xander would not be leaving the area anytime soon. She chuckled softly. Not if Willow had anything to say about it.

From beside her, Xander reached down and grabbed her hand. "At my signal, you're going to get yourself out of here," he murmured shakily, clearly afraid.

After all, Xander was a muggle, not a wizard and despite Willow's tutoring he was still only well versed in the smelly herb variety of magic. It would therefore be impossible for Xander to apparate out of the area and Willow was not about to leave her best friend to die when she had the means-albeit slightly shadier than most-to get them both out of the situation.

"Are you nuts?" she whispered angrily back. "There's no way I'm leaving you."

"Willow," Xander murmured again, this time more harshly. "Get your ass out of here now before they…"

"Hello my dear," Lucius Malfoy drawled back at the pregnant witch in front of him. "You'll notice that I've just placed anti-apparition wards around the area we're standing in so don't get any ideas about leaving."

"….do something like that." Xander finished in a normal, almost resigned voice now. Indeed, they had known that this day was coming. He just wished that it hadn't come so soon.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Willow responded, internally letting the magic from the earth begin to fill her. Hopefully she wouldn't need to let it loose, but on the off chance that she couldn't stop the Deatheaters with magic of the whiter variety, it was probably a good thing that she had a backup plan. "Shall we go about this the hard way or the easy way?"

Lucius looked amused at her attempt at banter and the assumption that she could even come close to saving herself and her friend, a muggle from what he could see and therefore incapable of posing a threat to him and his Deatheaters. "Willow," he chuckled lightly as he walked towards her, "It amuses me to no end that you think you could possible dream of winning this battle." He paused, listening as the other Deatheaters, Voldemort's best and strongest, began to laugh as well. "You and that child of yours are a threat to the Dark Lord and his plan. Be a dear and give yourself up now. I promise to make your death quick if you do."

Xander looked at the man in front of him incredulously. This was the best that Voldemort could come up with? And he just expected them to lie down and die? "That might be a little difficult."

"And why might that be?" Lucius, who had chosen to ignore the Muggle in his attempts to goad Willow into the first move, turned to regard Xander.

"Well," Xander shrugged. "It seems to me that just declaring yourself the winner at the onset is wishful thinking." He turned to Willow and shook his head, "That's the problem with villains these days. Their huge egos. I mean honestly, if every bad guy that tried to kill us succeeded, we'd be dead, what Wills? A couple hundred times by now?" He turned back to the pale wizard in front of him. "You gotta factor in some things buddy. Like….." He broke off suddenly, staring wide-eyed at something in the building across the street. "Oh my God, what's that?"

The Deatheaters turned, Lucius included, wands drawn and at the ready to whatever it was that Xander was pointing at.

As soon as this happened Xander grabbed Willow's hand and started running.

"Xander, what was that about?" Willow yelled as they ran down the street, dodging curses from the Deatheaters following them.

"That was called a distraction, Wills," Xander shouted back as he picked up the pace, thankful that Willow was still small with child. There was no way they could have gotten even a head start if she had been heavier and therefore slower and more ungainly. He smiled internally, thanking whatever powers there were that they hadn't been attacked even a month from now. From beside him, Willow snorted with ill-timed laughter as she ducked from a particularly nasty hex that had been poised to hit her. "What?"

"'Oh my God, what's that?'" she mimicked. "That's got to be the oldest one in the book."

"They fell for it didn't they?" Xander looked back quickly, noting that the Deatheaters were gaining on them. He was cut off from anything else though, as one of the curses they had been dodging finally hit and he fell to the ground in agony, curling into a ball as excruciating pain coursed through his frame. The last thing he heard were Willow's screams as the world went dark.

Warm hands softly brushing the hair from his forehead was the first thing he felt as he emerged from the black solitude of unconsciousness. Truth be told, he didn't think he would have even woken up simply from this. No, the yelling coming from the other room was probably responsible for his state of alertness. With a soft moan, as the memories of the attack began to come back to him, he opened his eyes and was stunned as he took in the goddess whose hands had been responsible for putting his hair back into some semblance of control.

* * *

Ginny Weasley smiled as she noticed that the handsome man on the bed had finally woken up. Indeed, when she had gotten here she hadn't been expecting to find that the emergency call placed to St. Mungos was from the woman that her good friend Harry Potter called wife, and that the reason for said call was because the expectant Death Eater attack that he had been fretting over with her for the past month had finally arrived. Now, nearly 12 hours after the attack, she watched as her charge woke up and looked up at her stunned.

"Who are you?" the man, whose name she had been told was Xander, asked in a rusty voice.

"Ginny Weasley," she said succinctly, reaching over to the bedside table and handing him a glass of water to clear the frog in his throat. "And you're Xander Harris."

"Yep, that would be me," he said in a clearer voice now that his throat was no longer parched and winced as the yelling from the other room got louder. "What's happening out there?"

Ginny rolled her eyes in exasperation over the argument in the living room of Willow and Xander's flat as she began to explain to the man she had learned was Willow's best friend exactly what had happened in the past half day. "Harry wants Willow to move to Hogwarts with him. Apparently, the attack last night was the last straw."

"Last night?" Xander shot up out of the bed and groaned as the pounding in his head abruptly got worse. "How long have I been out?"

"About half a day or so," Ginny shrugged, pushing him back to the bed in a no-nonsense manner and handing him a potion.

"What's this?" Xander asked, suspiciously eying the vial in his hand that was a putrid shade of purple-green.

"Headache potion," Ginny smirked. "Like your muggle ibuprofen only 10 times as fast acting." She rolled her eyes for the second time in as many minutes as Xander continued to treat the vial as if it were poison. "Just drink it. You'll feel better."

Eying her warily, he brought the potion to his lips and downed it. "Ugh," he made a face of revulsion as the taste of the medicine-that of used coffee-grounds- made him almost puke it back up.

"Here," Ginny said, trading the now empty vial for a piece of chocolate. "You feel better now though, don't you?"

Xander opened his mouth to dispute these words but abruptly swallowed them along with the chocolate as he realized that he did in fact feel better, the headache having magically disappeared. "OK, yes, but did it have to taste so bad?"

Ginny laughed. She had wondered about that herself ever since she had been a little girl. Of course, she hadn't known the answer until she had learned about it in one of her preparatory classes for her current career. Apparently, flavouring caused the potency of the potions to wane, and this, she had learned, was only good when dealing with things like cough medicine for children versus adults. She was broken from her thoughts though as Xander spoke again.

"Some argument they're having, isn't it?" he asked, able to carry on a conversation now that the splitting headache he had been dealing with had dissipated.

Ginny nodded, frowning slightly. "They've been at it since Harry got here about 3 hours ago."

"Is he angry that she didn't share her 'special talents' with him earlier?" Xander said hesitantly, not knowing how much Ginny knew about Willow's 'skills' before taking in her understanding face and sitting back against the pillows.

The redhead in front of him simply nodded again and continued with her synopsis of the argument taking place as they spoke. "After you went down she took care of everything. The Aurors didn't know what to make of it. She managed to immobilize them with a flick of her wrists. And Lucius Malfoy, you should have seen what she did to him…."

"She didn't…flay him by any chance did she?" Xander asked, wincing as he imagined what Willow had done to the Deatheaters that had accosted them the past evening and the punishment she had obviously inflicted upon them.

"No," Ginny smiled, looking for all the world as if she was desperately trying to hold in her laughter. "She turned him into a rat."

"What?" Xander deadpanned, suddenly noticing the other sounds in the room underlying the shouting match. He turned and burst into laughter as he took in the platinum white mouse in the cage on his dresser who was running quite quickly on his wheel, thus creating the squeaking sound that had drawn his attention in the first place.

"OK. Better than flaying," he said, listening as the yelling suddenly went silent. He and Ginny exchanged worried looks, both being aware of their friends' personality traits enough to know that silence after a heavy argument was never a good thing. Concerned, he moved to get out of the bed.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ginny pushed him back to the bed forcefully.

"Getting up. I feel fine. Something's happened and Willow needs me," Xander pushed back and stood up, blushing deeply as he realized that he was only wearing his boxers. From the bed, Ginny smiled teasingly.

"Missing something?" she taunted, enjoying teasing him.

"As a matter of fact," Xander went to his closet and pulled out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. "Just for the record, why'd you take my clothes off? It was just a hex that I got hit with."

Ginny simply grinned mischievously at him before standing. "A bad hex and I'm a medi-witch," she drawled, stepping closer to the uncomfortable man in front of her. "You were hurt and I couldn't very well…examine you without first losing some of your clothing."

She moved closer to stand next to him, purposely flirting with him to gauge his reaction and perhaps move him to blush some more. Indeed, Ginny Weasley had seven brothers and knew how to talk to men so well that….they rarely wanted to be more than friends after the first conversation. She enjoyed stretching her feminine wiles on a man who was susceptible to them, and Xander was apparently one of them. It wasn't like she met many, especially in her profession as a medi-witch, and she seldom got out to cruise the club scene. The truth of the matter was that she hadn't had a date for over a year and she hadn't had sex in three. Frustration aside though, it was just plain fun to tease Xander.

Xander eyed her, frowning, before finally seeming to accept this explanation and moving away from the flirty redhead to find some socks in his dresser and shoes in his closet, putting them on before motioning for her to follow him. "C'mon. Let's go make sure they haven't killed each other."

Ginny followed him eagerly, wondering what the silence in the living room was all about. Her jaw dropped when she saw that answer though. Or rather, the castoff symptoms to the answer.

"Oh for the love of Pete!" Xander cried in an exasperated voice as he too took in the sight of Willow's shirt, bra, and pants thrown haphazardly onto the living room floor of the flat, joining a man's suit jacket and tie in a forlorn pile next to the couch. The owners of the clothing were nowhere to be found but Willow's bedroom door was shut so Xander assumed they could only be in there…

"Do they do this often?" Ginny asked, grinning knowingly as she picked up the bra from the floor and examined it. Hmmm. Wonder where Willow had gotten this…Ginny loved black lace.

"Would you put that down?!" Xander exclaimed in a rattled voice, blushing yet again.

"You didn't answer my question," Ginny continued, gently setting the bra back onto the pile before sitting down on the couch.

Xander rolled his eyes. "Yes actually. I generally sleep at Giles's on their weekends here. Sometimes they get a hotel." His eyes widened as a moan wafted through Willow's bedroom door. Someone had forgotten a silencing charm.

Ginny's eyes widened in shock. "Xander, I know we only just met but…"

"Yeah, let's go," Xander grabbed her purse off the table by the door and handed it to her before grabbing his wallet and keys. Maybe in an hour or so he'd get a full account from Willow as to what happened last night and of course the aftermath of how she spilled the beans to Harry. For now, he would enjoy the company of the medi-witch who had taken care of him, buy her a coffee, and try his hardest not to feel jealous of the fabulous make-up sex his best friend was partaking of at this very moment. He snuck a glance at the gorgeous redhead next to him as they stepped into the elevator and silently reminded himself to thank Harry for his excellent timing-and his distinct lack of a silencing charm.


	10. Memories

**Permanent Mistakes Chapter 10: Memories**  
  
"I'm getting too big for this," Willow murmured as she laid next her sated husband.  
  
From beside her, Harry chuckled, rolling onto his side to gaze at her pregnant form. Truth be told, she wasn't very big at all. It just felt like she was for her when they had sex. Indeed, Harry had taken to taking her from behind (but this, combined with the pressure the baby liberally placed on her bladder at inopportune moments always made her have to pee; they had stopped soon after the first uncomfortable try) or Willow would be on top. She was convinced however, that she was becoming too heavy for this. Harry didn't think so; it was always a turn-on for him to actually see her face when she came and this position allowed for that. The fact that she had gained a little weight, mostly baby if they wanted to get right down to it, didn't make any difference to him. She was trying to change the subject again though, as she had done earlier when she had practically accosted him in the living room during their heated argument.  
  
"No seriously," Willow turned her head to look at her husband who was currently trailing a hand up her burgeoning belly to her breasts. "Stop that Harry," she said, swatting the hand lightly away from her sensitive flesh. "We still need to have a discussion pertaining to the patriarchal way you insisted that I do as you say and move into Hogwarts."  
  
Harry rolled his eyes good naturedly at her words. Indeed, by this time he was used to her arguing with his every request regarding her safety. He didn't understand why she wouldn't listen to him.  
  
"I will not be some housewife," Willow continued. "I have a good job, an apartment, and an excellent line of credit. I do NOT need anyone to take care of me."  
  
"I'm not talking about taking care of you financially although considering the fact that you're carrying my child, it is arguable that I SHOULD be Willow…" Harry said, annoyed that she was brushing him off the way she was. He didn't get the chance to dwell on this thought however as Willow continued her assertion of why she didn't need to move into Hogwarts.  
  
"No Harry, you shouldn't. I'm independent and quite frankly I am perfectly capable of taking care of both myself and our child," Willow finished, satisfied at all she had had to say and the fact that it had come out exactly as she wanted to say it.  
  
Harry was silent for a moment, his carefully constructed thoughts dashed as a wave of hurt fell over him. "Then what am I here for Willow?"  
  
"Oh," Willow suddenly realized what she had insinuated and it couldn't be farther from the truth. She loved him so much it hurt sometimes but he could be so controlling. "Oh I didn't mean it like that…"  
  
"Then what did you mean?" Harry asked in a deceptively quiet voice. He wanted to know, was he wasting his time even trying with their relationship? Wizarding marriages weren't dissolvable however this didn't mean they had to stay together…  
  
Willow raised her eyes to the ceiling and sighed in defeat. She could tell by the tone of his voice that he was upset with her last words. And yet proving to him that she DID need him would mean letting go of the secret she had been keeping from him; not just about her dark past, but the fact that she was in love with him. But the truth, as she had so aptly been told by her mother at the age of 3, would set you free so here went nothing. "I meant that you need to stop worrying so much. I need you not because you take care of me and the baby but because…..I love you and I can't imagine going through this experience without you." She shook her head and laughed bitterly. "Isn't that weird? You and I meet in such insane circumstances and I go and fall in love with you."  
  
Harry went absolutely still. He hadn't been expecting that.  
  
Ignoring Harry's silence, Willow continued. "And what's even stranger is the fact that we've gone for months now and I still haven't gotten up the courage to tell you about my past…"  
  
"Your past?" Harry looked confused.  
  
Willow nodded, speaking faster now, "My rather…eclectic past. You know how I turned Lucius Malfoy into a rat?"  
  
Harry nodded, confused. "Well, I've done worse," she paused a moment, pondering how she was going to phrase the next words out of her mouth without causing Harry to want to leave her. In the end, she chose the blunt and honest truth. "I've killed a man."  
  
He simply looked at her in shock. "When?"  
  
"A couple years ago," she gulped. "You remember when…when I told you about Tara? How she was killed?"  
  
Harry nodded. He knew it had been quite traumatic for her.

"Well, for the months prior to her…murder…" she spoke quietly, the last word sounding harsh as she held back tears that had suddenly sprung up as she told her husband about the woman who had taught her how to love. "I had been using magic too much and I got involved in some stuff that was…fairly dark. I became addicted."

Willow laughed bitterly, the first tear making its way down her cheek. "Tara actually left me for it. Said I wasn't taking it all seriously enough. She was right."

Harry was silent. This was information that his wife had never told him about. He had always thought that she had come into her magic naturally. He had been completely unaware that she had ever had problems with the ease it came to her though. He was broken from his thoughts as Willow started to speak again.

"Anyway, long story short, I quit cold turkey," she shuddered, remembering the painful withdrawal she had gone through: the night sweats, the shakes and the almost debilitating nausea that had come with her sacrifice for her relationship. "And, after awhile, Tara came back to me."

She turned a teary eyed look onto Harry and smiled. "We spent a whole day in bed after but, the next morning…." She paused, the tears beginning to run faster and the smile disappearing, "Tara insisted we get up and get dressed, said we couldn't spend all day in bed, we had classes and lives that couldn't be put on hold or something like that….it all kind of faded away after…."

"After what?" Harry whispered, leaning over to the night stand and grabbing the box of tissues, holding the box out to Willow and drawing her closer into his arms.

"Warren," Willow muttered angrily before raising her voice bitterly to continue her sad tale. "He had been trying to beat Buffy all year but hadn't been able to do it with supernatural means so he turned to more…normal ways." She raised her head and met Harry's eyes. "He came into the backyard, shot Buffy and let off a few more shots one of which came through the window to our bedroom and killed Tara."

"Merlin," Harry gasped in shock; he hadn't been expecting the story to turn in this particular direction. Indeed, he had been expecting that his wife's former lover had met her maker in a more…exotic manner. Death by demon or vampire for instance. Not by a manmade weapon.

"After that, I lost it," Willow murmured, wiping her eyes, her voice dropping down into an unnaturally calm voice. "I tracked down Warren and tortured him. I flayed him alive Harry and drove a bullet into his heart just like he did to Tara and then I went after his accomplices." She took another tissue from the box that Harry still held in an outstretched position towards her and wiped her nose, which had begun to run a bit. "But Buffy stopped me…"

"Wait," Harry stopped her, confused. "I thought you said Buffy was shot…"

Willow nodded, thankful for the distracting question. "She was, I took the bullet out myself and healed her."

"You…you healed her? That's impossible…" Harry said, shocked.

Willow gave him a small smile. "Not when you're channeling as much magic as I was at the time." She cleared her throat. "Anyways, long story short, I tried to end the world to end my 'pain' when I couldn't dispose of Warren's stooges." Her fingers made air brackets as she used the word pain, belying the fact that the death of Tara had been the most tragic of her young life to this day. "I was hurting and I wanted everyone else to hurt too. Xander saved me and I guess the rest of the world."

"How did he do that?" Harry asked.

"He talked me down from the edge," Willow murmured. "Don't every let anyone who says Xander is a mere anything get away with it. He's not mere….he's the bravest person I've ever met." She met Harry's eyes at his dubious look. "I'm not joking when I said I'd have ended the world that night if it hadn't been for him. I would have and he knew it but he still kept at me, saying that if the world was ending then he was going to be there with me, just like we had always been." She shrugged. "And the loneliness I felt kind of melted away. I was grieving for Tara, but Xander wouldn't let me do it alone."

She fell silent, her story ended for the moment as she waited for Harry's reaction. What she heard next surprised her.

"I did something like that, but I was only 16 at the time." Harry murmured, squeezing Willow's shoulder in acknowledgement that her sins were not apparently as sinful as she feared he would find them.

"You killed someone too?" Willow jokingly said as she reached for another tissue to mop up her face that she feared had dissolved a long time ago.

Harry shook his head. "No, I can't say I've had that experience but I…I did do something like it."

"What did you do?" Willow asked quietly, sensing that her husband needed as much encouragement with this as he had given her.

"Peter Pettigrew, he…he helped to frame Sirius and caused him to go to Azkaban. He's also one of the main people I blamed for Sirius' death after my fifth year of school. Beyond myself that is," Harry sighed. "The truth is, I became rather dark and before I knew it, I started experimenting with different forms of magic."

"Forms?" Willow asked, clearly confused with this wording.

"I went to Knockturn Alley during my annual Back-to-Hogwarts shopping trip and bought some books to make me stronger. Spells to enhance magic through the dark arts and that sort of thing. My thoughts at the time on the matter were that in order to beat Voldemort, I would have to become him in a way. So once I got back to Hogwarts I started practicing darker varieties of magic everyday until I couldn't function well with plain old everyday magic." He sighed, "And that's when things started to get really bad. I had another confrontation with the Death Eaters at the end of the year, Peter Pettigrew in particular and I…."

"You what Harry?" Willow encouraged him to continue.

"I tortured him with the cruciatus. Dumbledore caught me before I could use avada kadavra but, Merlin Willow, I was this close to using it…."

Willow grew silent, deciding on how she should react. She knew the pain that Harry had been in during that time of his life but…the man he was now did not resemble anyone that was capable of this sort of thing. For a moment she considered being shocked but it soon passed. Willow knew, probably better than most, exactly what emotional pain could make a person become.

Harry spoke again, afraid by her silence that she was re-considering the man she thought she had married. "Willow, it's alright if you…don't want me around after learning what I did. Truth be told, if I were you, I would probably be pushing me away right about now and telling me that under no circumstances did I want me raising the baby." He was cut off from any other words he might have been considering saying by a sudden burst of laughter from his wife.

"Harry, shut up," Willow laughed, shuddering as the giggles continued.

"Well I'm glad you find this so humorous," Harry said hotly, rolling away from Willow to get out of bed.

Willow was having none of this though. With another giggle and surprising strength for such a petite woman, she pulled him closer and swung a leg over Harry's midriff, trapping him under her. "I don't find it humorous," she chuckled, settling in a comfortable straddling position over her husband's flaccid cock. Not for long if she had anything to do with it and indeed, she planned to. "You were going through some rough times and I of all people can understand that."

"You're saying you don't mind that I've tortured a man and…and…dabbled in the dark arts?" Harry tried to buck Willow off his lap to no avail, only succeeding in arousing himself as her naked lower half grinded against his own.

"No, I'd be a hypocrite if I said that to you," Willow said succinctly, feeling her husband's growing erection against her nether regions. Actions _did_ speak louder than words and she certainly wasn't about to object to what Harry's errant body part was suggesting to her own already dampening one. "I'm saying I admire you for it."

Harry stilled, shocked by this answer. "Excuse me?!"

Willow nodded her head, continuing with her explanation as she teased him with her hips. "Everyone has a dark side Harry, some more than others. We all suppress it to a certain extent but it takes a strong person to give into it and then come back from that…edge." She shrugged. "That's why I can't think of a better person to help me raise this baby." His cock twitched and she gave a wiggle on his lap.

Harry groaned as Willow adjusted herself on top of him, causing his already stiff cock to grow harder. _Focus Potter, you're talking about a serious subject right now. This is no time to be thinking of…..oh dear lord._

Willow had apparently had enough talk. With bold hands, she reached between their bodies and withdrew her husband's shaft, fluttering her fingers over its length. "Harry I love you."

"Even…even with….what I've done?" Harry whimpered as Willow moved down his penis to fondle his testicles in her palm, her other hand joining in the fun and encircling the head of his hard cock.

Willow shrugged again as she continued with her ministrations. "More than ever."

"I love you too," Harry moaned softly, deciding that apparently she didn't care about his past discretions. Truth be told, neither did he of hers. She had been hurting and he of all people knew what grief could push a person to do.

"Even after all I've done?" Willow said softly, as she gave up on the impromptu hand job she had been giving Harry and lowered herself onto him.

"Merlin," Harry groaned as her heat engulfed him. "Yes."

"You know," Willow bit her lip as she began to move her hips lightly against Harry's own. "We could probably use this to our advantage."

"What do you mean by that?" Harry said breathily, grasping his wife's hips and holding them still, trying desperately to gain some semblance of control back from her.

"You can't use wandless magic," she said, feeling her body scream internally as the delicious pleasure abruptly stopped.

"No, I can't," Harry continued to hold her still as he caught his breath and let himself think for a moment. Indeed, it was a well known fact that fucking and thinking were two things that males could not accomplish simultaneously but females could. Therefore, until his wife decided that she was finished with her serious conversation, Harry would try his best to stay focused.

"So he won't be expecting it when you pull out the old wandless magic skills in the final battle will he?" Willow, having grown tired of the waiting game she and Harry were playing, abruptly used her own powers to pull his hands from her hips forcefully, securing them to the headboard of her bed before sinking herself onto him in one satisfying movement.

Harry groaned as all his good intentions flew out the window and what was left of the blood in his head abandoned their post and took up residence in his groin. "What skills?"

"The ones I'm teaching you tomorrow," she moaned again as her mouth met his in a lustful tangle and all conversation died.


	11. Flirting

**Permanent Mistakes Chapter 11: Flirting **

"Do you think they're done yet?" Ginny asked as she sipped her coffee at the Muggle coffeehouse Xander had taken her to.

Her companion snorted in laughter. "You really don't understand how Harry and Willow operate do you?"

She looked on in amusement as Xander took a sip of his own coffee and reached for one of the chocolate croissants sitting on the plate in the middle of the table. "I've heard Ron talk about it but I didn't think it was true."

"Well it is," Xander shook his head. "One thing you've got to understand about Willow; she's not normally like this. But the hormones have…I don't know," Xander paused as he tried to formulate words to describe his overly emotional and extremely hormonal best friend. "They've changed her. She's…."he met Ginny's eyes with a twinkle of his own. "Well, she's every guy's dream woman now and I can't blame Harry for wanting to spend as much time in bed with her as he does."

Ginny raised an eyebrow, slightly offended and definitely worried that her assumptions that Xander was not a male chauvinist pig were wrong. "And just what do you mean by that?"

Xander raised a hand and started to tick off fingers as he talked. "A. She's always horny, it's the hormones or something, I don't know but all I can say is thank God for Harry; I'm pretty sure that if he hadn't come back my best friend would have probably ruined our friendship by coming on to me one too many times. B. She's developed curves in all the right places and her breasts are HUGE right now and C. she's also developed a taste for large amounts of red meat and beer nuts."

A snort erupted from Ginny's nose. "Does Willow know you think of her this way?"

"That's just the thing," Xander sat forward and took another bite of the chocolately dessert in front of him. "I don't. These are just observations from a man who hasn't been laid in months."

This time a genuine laugh escaped Ginny's mouth. Since they had sat down at the coffee shop she had been fighting it but the man sitting in front of her was leading her to distraction. From only the half hour she had spent with him, she had so far learned that he shared values and quirks much like a combination of her brothers and Harry. His sense of humour even, rivalled her own and in addition to this, he seemed genuinely to care for his best friends well-being (something that Ginny could now attest to considering the conversation revolving around Willow's safety on the walk over to the coffee house; Ginny didn't have the heart to remind him that it was HE and not Willow that had gotten injured in the attack just the evening before…) This in itself led Ginny to believe that Xander Harris was a unique man and definitely one which she could see herself breaking her sexual dry spell with. Perhaps these were just hormones talking though…

The silence was broken as Xander spoke again, this time a little more hesitantly than he had before, as if he was about to broach a delicate subject. Indeed, he was about to put himself on the line and ask Ginny out. "Speaking of, I was wondering…"

Ginny burst into laughter, his last sentence providing this next phrase of his the impression of a come-on. Indeed, if she didn't know better, she would think that he had just propositioned her…. "Are you asking me to sleep with you Xander?"

"Sleep with me?" Xander looked like a deer trapped in headlights-a confused deer though. "No! Where would you get an idea like that?"

"Well, the fact that you just mentioned that you hadn't and I quote 'been laid in months' and then the fact that you started your next phrase with 'speaking of' was an indication that that was your next question." Ginny finished succinctly, biting her lip to keep from laughing at the shocked look at his own behaviour that Xander was giving off. He was in for more of a shock though, she was sure, because, unlike Xander it appeared, she was more up front with her encounters of a sexual nature. "The answer is yes by the way."

"I was just trying to ask you out…..what!" Xander's eyes bugged out from his face as Ginny's last words sunk in. "Did you just say you'd sleep with me?"

"Yeah, but not until after you buy me dinner; so yes Xander, in answer to your last question, I will go out with you," Ginny said matter-of-factly. "I'm free next Friday night by the way and if I know Harry, he's probably just about convinced Willow to move to Hogwarts by now. We'd have your flat all to ourselves….."

Xander, despite the fact that he was the king of stupidity in some matters, knew when to take what he was being offered and not to ask questions. This was one of those situations, albeit one of the strangest he had ever had the pleasure to experience. "Sounds good. I'll pick you up at 8 then?" His brow furrowed in confusion. "Where do you live by the way?"

Ginny broke into a hesitant, nervous laugh; coming down a bit it seemed from her brazen behaviour and the fact that Xander's question raised a few problems in her mind. Indeed, Xander was a muggle so picking her up might be a problem. After all, she lived in Diagon Alley, close to St. Mungos and more often than not an inaccessible place for anyone who didn't perform magic and didn't know how to get into the Alley itself.

"What's so funny?" Xander asked, leaning forward and taking her hand.

"It's just," Ginny's laugh was downgraded into a nervous giggle. "I live in Diagon Alley. Maybe it's better if I just meet you at the restaurant or at your place."

Xander cocked an eyebrow and smirked. "What, you think that just because I'm a muggle I don't know how to get into Diagon Alley? I DO help run the Watcher's Council you know." With a concerned look, he scanned the café for people who might be looking at them and, seeing that there was only Ginny and himself in the small café, he pulled from his pocket a small box. From this, he removed a tiny wooden object and, with a muttering of words, the wooden stick enlarged to the size of a wand. "Willow had it designed for me when she and I began to be going between the magical world and the muggle one so much."

Ginny didn't know what to say. Her mother, despite the fact that she had always said she didn't care who her children dated (magical or otherwise), would be thrilled that the man that Ginny was thinking of getting involved with in the near future had magical capabilities. "So you're…"

"A wizard? Sadly no," Xander said, looking down at the wand in his hand and muttering the word to shrink it. "This is just so I can access magic points across the world. I DO perform spells with Willow though, especially since she's been pregnant, but for the most part, I'm a muggle." He caught the look that briefly crossed Ginny's face. "Well don't be so disappointed. It's not like I'm totally unaware of the wizarding world. I just don't happen to be able to participate in it the way you and Willow and Harry can."

"Oh Xander," Ginny started; appalled that she had made him feel so inadequate. "It's just that I was thinking about my Mum and Dad."

Xander raised a surprised eyebrow. "Your parents? What do they have to do with anything?"

Ginny smiled lightly. "In my family? Just about everything. That's beside the point though. What I was trying to say is that they've always encouraged their children to date people who they like, not because they are or are not magical."

Xander smiled wryly, not really believing the crazy conversation he and Ginny were currently having. "Are we dating then?"

Ginny grinned back and squeezed the hand that she still held. "Well, I consider this a preliminary date and we've planned one for the future… furthermore, you're definitely getting laid at some point during the next week so…yeah, yeah we are."

Xander nodded and raised his free hand to the waitress, indicating that they wanted their check, desperate for some kind of distraction for his racing mind. This was turning out to be as strange as when he and Anya had gotten involved…. "Good. I like the sound of that."

"Well, you should," Ginny smiled, standing as the waitress brought the check and Xander placed a few pounds on the table and moved toward the door. "I haven't had sex in three years…." And with that, she walked out the door to the café, motioning for Xander to follow her.

Xander simply stood there, wondering exactly what he had gotten himself into, and feeling the distinct beginnings of performance anxiety in his veins. With a sigh, he followed the woman who he could distinctly see himself having quite a good time with out the door. He just hoped that things had gone as well for his best friend in the last two hours that he and Ginny had been sitting in the café as they had for him.

He was interrupted from these thoughts of his best friend as he stepped out of the café and Ginny shot him a look. "What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in her direction and smiling slyly.

"Nothing," she said, moving closer and taking his hand, all the while pushing him a little backwards.

Xander started as his back hit the brick wall that sat just next to the café. "Ginny what…."

"I've wanted to do this since I met you last night," Ginny said huskily, her lips coming down onto his and drawing him into a searing kiss.

"Ginny," Xander tried again, as their lips, previously fused together broke apart and she smiled.

"You drive me crazy Xander," she said, looking into his eyes, blatant lust flaring ever so slightly in their depths.

Xander, having had issues processing exactly what was had happened in the last few minutes, finally woke up from his daze. Somehow, even at this early stage in their 'relationship,' whatever it might turn out to be, he knew that it was something special. Indeed, he felt certain that Anya would be glad that he had found someone to move on with. For now though, Xander Harris gave into the feelings of attraction he too had been feeling since he had met the red-headed doctor in front of him.

"You drive me crazy too," he said softly, and with that, he returned the kiss that Ginny had just given him, all the while wondering how he got himself into these crazy but wonderful situations.

With a soft sound of surprise, Ginny let herself be swept up into another kiss, this time unyielding as Xander returned the feelings she had put into her last action toward him.

Willow and Harry were sitting at the kitchen table in their bathrobes, one hand intertwined with the others and talking quietly when Xander and Ginny finally entered the flat.

"Willow," Xander said warningly, seeing the mug next to the hand that wasn't holding Harry's. If what was in the mug was what he thought it was, then they all were in for a very hyper Willow in the very near future. "What is that?"

Willow looked sheepish, pursing her lips and giggling lightly, "Nothing."

"Willow…." Xander said again, coming forward and looking in the mug, taking in the fact that she was drinking hot chocolate-a drink that pretty much guaranteed that Willow would be up and perky for hours to come. He turned his gaze to Harry, raising an eyebrow. "She's going to be up forever, you know that right?"

Harry smirked, letting Xander know by the look on his face exactly what he and his best friend were going to be doing for the rest of the night. "I was counting on it actually."

Xander winced, sitting down in the vacant chair next to Willow and trying not to go where Harry obviously wanted him to go mentally- and failing miserably. He was broken from his thoughts though as Willow patted his shoulder and peered into his face.

"How're you feeling Xander?" she asked quietly, worried about her friend. Indeed, she had seen him get hit by that hex and had lost it, going through the Deatheaters that didn't run in terror when she initially got angry and turning them all into rats. She had left Lucius, the Deatheater whose curse had hit her best friend, in Xander's room as a gift.

"Good," Xander said quietly, glad that someone was helping get the raunchy images of Willow and Harry out of his head. "Ginny took good care of me."

Hearing her name, Ginny came over and sat down at the table, taking the mug of hot chocolate that Harry handed her from the pot on the table. "He's in perfect health now," she said, taking a sip. "The spell damage was minimal and he just had to sleep it off."

"Good," Harry cocked his head in confusion, furrowing his brow as he took in the difference in Ginny that has occurred in only a few hours. She looked almost…glowy. "OK. What am I missing?"

"What?" Ginny looked at him as if he were nuts, praying that he couldn't read on her face the kisses that she and Xander had stolen after they had left the café. "You're not missing anything."

"Yeah, yeah I am," Harry insisted, looking at the two of them, trying to figure out what it was.

"So Willow's moving in with you at Hogwarts then?" Xander forcibly changed the subject, causing Willow to look at him strangely now.

"Um-hm," Harry murmured, having an inkling as to what was going on but being content to let it lie until Ginny left and he could talk to Xander alone.

"We're packing all my things up tomorrow," Willow smiled, an abrupt change from the sullen woman who had refused to even consider the possibility of going anywhere just 24 hours ago.

Xander raised an eyebrow incredulously, continuing this look on his face as he gave Harry an admiring gaze, shaking his head in disbelief at what Willow's husband had gotten the stubborn woman he called his wife to change her mind completely in the course of one session in bed.

"Anyways," Willow continued, not appreciating the masculine look of admiration Xander was currently shooting her husband. The truth of the matter was that she had been thinking of taking the job at Hogwarts even before her bout of stubbornness that she had exhibited with Xander just the other evening. She sighed, had it been just an evening ago? So much had happened in such a short span of time. "We contacted Dumbledore an hour ago and I start Monday."

"Monday?" It was Ginny's turn to gain a look of disbelief on her face. "It's March Willow, isn't it a bit late to be starting a class?"

"I'm not starting a class yet," Willow explained quietly. "Dumbledore wants me to do some supplementary lessons to Harry's class."

"Supplementary eh?" Xander said jokingly. "Harry not doing a good enough job then?"

Harry gave Xander the finger at this point.

"No, Harry's a great teacher," Willow chuckled lightly at the antics of her best friend, and husband. "It's just…" she broke off, not knowing how to put what was going on currently in the wizarding world.

"With the war getting more difficult to deal with everyday," Harry jumped in to help his wife. "Dumbledore and I thought it would be beneficial for students at Hogwarts to receive at least a basic lesson in wandless magic," he turned to Ginny. "And you're right; it IS too late in the year to start a new class. Next year, Willow will get a class entirely to herself. For now though, it's necessary for my class to be supplemented with something related to what Willow knows if only to prepare the students for the battle ahead."

Silence fell over the room as the group took in the significance of what Harry had just said. Indeed, it was a sad world they lived in when children, almost adults really, who should be learning about who they were as young adults, suddenly had to learn to defend themselves for when they would be attacked. It was Ginny who broke this silence, her beeper (a new addition to the magical world, St. Mungos having distributed them to all the staff just last month) sounding the necessity for her to go to the hospital.

Ginny peered down at the tiny piece of plastic in her hand, her heart racing at what she saw there. "Holy shit, there's been an attack."

"Where?" Harry looked concerned. Not many attacks had been happening recent, making this all the more important in its irregularity.

"Diagon Alley," Ginny exchanged Harry's look of concern with one of her own.

"Fuck," Harry swore under his breath. "How many injured?"

Ginny stood, grabbing her coat from the back of her chair and slipping it on. "Don't know. I'll let you know when the chaos dies down though."

Harry nodded, standing up and going to the fireplace.

"What are you doing Harry?" Willow looked over to her husband, who was currently crouched next to the fire, which had just turned green with an incoming floo.

Harry ignored her, his muffled voice talking to someone quietly before emerging again.

"Harry?" Ginny, who stood at the door, ready to leave but needing to find out what Harry was up to before she left to pick up the pieces of the mess that Voldemort had apparently left in Diagon Alley. Harry didn't answer, his face a mask of shock and concern. "Harry!" she said a little more forcefully. "Who was that?"

Harry cleared his throat, unable to believe what Ron had just told him over the floo. "That was Ron. Dumbledore's in St. Mungo's."


	12. Impending Reunions, Tragic Consequences

**Chapter 12: Impending Reunions and Tragic Consequences**

"What happened!" Ginny exclaimed, eyes widening as she tried to fathom what exactly could have allowed Albus Dumbledore to end up in the hospital.

Harry exchanged looks with Willow and Xander, who also looked like they were waiting for Harry's response to Ginny's question. He sighed deeply, knowing that his next piece of news would send the two former Scoobies into a flurry of activity as they tried to compensate for what had gone on that evening, "Vampire attack, all old ones and all impermeable to the magic that Dumbledore was wielding."

Willow's eyes went to Xander's in horror as they both stood up from the table, "Are you serious? Xander, we have to…"

"Call Angel. And then Giles and Buffy. We've got to prepare for this," he finished her sentence for her.

Now Harry was the one who was confused. Indeed, he had expected this news to be simply that, news. He hadn't expected it to be a call to action. "Prepare?"

Willow met her husband's eyes with an incredulous look, "You're joking right? You think they're just going to stop with helping Voldemort take over the Wizarding world when with their age and power they could easily open the nearest Hellmouth which is, if I recall correctly, sitting in the middle of London at this present date?"

Harry and Ginny exchanged looks. They hadn't thought of that. "What makes you think that they'll go for the Hellmouth though?" he asked out of sheer confusion.

Willow rolled her eyes in exasperation. Sometimes she forgot that the magical world was not versed in the ways of the Slayer or her world, "They ALWAYS go for the Hellmouth. It's like their thing or something." Willow continued, "We need to get Buffy, Giles and really if you think about it, Angel and Spike as well. There might be a prophecy or something."

Harry cleared his throat pointedly. Willow patted his arm indulgently in return, "Sweetie, I'm aware that you're the Boy-Who-Lived, only person capable of killing Voldemort but this is bigger than you I think."

Harry's eyes widened at his wife's response as she went into Watcher-mode. Indeed, Harry Potter was not used to watching someone take control over a situation that normally he would have.

It was now Ginny's turn to roll her eyes as she took in this last exchange between husband and wife, "Wonderful as this conversation is, I have to go. Lives to save and all that rot. You understand I'm sure." She turned at the door before she went, directly her last words at Xander, "I'll see you Friday?"

"With bells on," Xander drawled before turning to Willow and Harry who had simply watched this last piece of conversation with confused expressions on their faces, their own tiny squabble forgotten in lieu of the confirmation of what Harry had suspected had been going on between Ginny and Xander earlier.

And with that, Ginny left, closing the door after her.

"And what was that about?" Willow asked slyly.

"I have a date next Friday. There might even be sex," Xander quirked a smile. It quickly turned into a frown as he took in the look on Harry's face at this last comment. "Her words, not mine."

Harry quirked an eyebrow, the look fading somewhat from his face to be replaced with a smirk. "You do realize that she has 6 older brothers, 7 if you count me and you should. I've known her for years and she's like a sister to me, albeit not blood related."

"I'm aware," Xander murmured, not making eye contact with Harry, suddenly afraid of Willow's husband, "And I have a suitable amount of fear in my heart at this point in time. Sir." He gulped this last word out.

Harry, having kept a straight face through this last exchange, broke into laughter, "Oh Merlin, is this what's going to happen when we have this baby Willow? If it's a girl?"

"Yep," Willow sidled up to Harry's side and slipped an arm around his waist. "You'll be striking fear in the hearts of any guy who gets within a mile of our little girl."

"Boy," Harry murmured, seemingly forgetting about Ginny's honour that he had been defending from Xander's lascivious leanings. "It's going to be a boy so I won't have to worry about this."

"Girl," Willow smiled, coming up to kiss Harry firmly on the lips.

"Boy," Harry purred, returning her kiss enthusiastically, both of them forgetting that Xander was still in the room.

"Ugh," Xander groaned in disgust as he watched Harry's hands start to undo Willow's bathrobe. Indeed, Willow and Harry were still in the disgustingly sweet area of their relationship where they couldn't keep their hands off each other. He really wished they'd get over it soon although in this case, it appeared to have saved him from a verbal beating on behalf of Ginny's honour…. "Get a room guys, we still have a crisis to avert."

Willow broke reluctantly apart from her husband, knowing that Xander was right, "Fine," she pouted, pulling her bathrobe tighter around her body from where Harry had loosened it a moment ago. "I'm going to go get dressed and then we need to get in touch with Angel, Buffy and Giles. And Spike," she sighed, knowing what might happen if Spike was added to the mix. He was now sleeping with Buffy on a regular basis, the two not acknowledging that it was a relationship, although Willow and Xander both knew that it was. If he had been human, he and Buffy would probably be married. This was problematic because Angel, although he denied it, still harboured feelings for the Slayer.

Xander nodded, reading the look of dread on Willow's face and understanding it. Perhaps they should put up the protection spells for the apartment now in preparation for the destruction that was sure to follow the vampires' arrival. He knew already that there was going to be a fight however it was necessary that both come to London, if only to try to avert what he sensed was coming. One couldn't do this for an entire life and not start to feel premonitions of danger to come after all. "So we're calling them in completely, or just for some over the phone consultations?"

Willow looked Xander straight in the eye, "Call them in, get them here any way you can because I'm pretty sure this is going to be big. And, with me out of commission very soon, it's probably better if we have some back-up."

Xander nodded, understanding completely, before turning to Harry, "You better get dressed too. You need to get to the hospital to see how Dumbledore is and then Willow's probably going to want to use you for a task or two." Xander shrugged, "Not sure what, but considering that you're the Boy-Who-Lived, I'm sure she's going to want to pump you for information about this Moldywart guy."

"Voldemort," Harry corrected softly, agreeing with Xander completely on this one. Willow was going to need his help and he really did need to get to the hospital to see how his former headmaster was doing. After all, at his point in time the war with Voldemort had been at a standstill. Now, he had finally made a move and that meant the Order needed to meet to organize counter-strikes against the approaching darkness. At the moment, Dumbledore was the only one who had the necessary information for this to happen and, in the event that the older man was dying, Harry had to extricate this information before that came to pass.

His brow furrowed though and he turned to ask Xander one last question, "Xander, how exactly do you know that there's a prophecy about this? Or that we're going to need anyone else to help?"

Xander simply smirked, his face a painting of reminiscence, "Instinct man, you avert a few apocalypse and try to avoid putting two and two together on a regular basis afterwards. Besides, as you yourself know, there's always a prophecy."

Harry smiled ruefully before heading into his bedroom to change into suitable attire for a hospital visit. Hopefully, although he didn't really think so, Xander was wrong.

He moved slowly as he entered the hospital room, afraid for what he would see. Indeed, he had discovered upon arrival at St. Mungos that not only had Dumbledore been struck down by the vampire attack, but so had McGonagall and Snape as well. And, while the curtain separating them was fairly solid and he couldn't see them, Harry still didn't want to think of the fact that 3 of the most powerful teachers at Hogwarts were now lying unconscious not 20 feet from him.

What he did eventually see far exceeded what he had been expecting. His former Headmaster was pale as a ghost, two fairly menacing holes in his neck. He looked, Harry had to admit, like a corpse and he was half afraid to say that this might be coming true in the next few hours, or days.

"It looks pretty bad, doesn't it?" Ginny said from behind him, walking into the room with a grim look on her face.

"You could say that," Harry sighed, sitting down in the chair next to the bed and motioning for Ginny to take the second chair. "How's he doing then? And what about McGonagall and Snape?"

Ginny sighed, standing and moving over to stand at the foot of Dumbledore's bed. "Well we can't be certain that he'll live through the night, but if he does, we feel that he stands an excellent chance of living. We've currently got him on a blood replenishing potion. That should take care of the problem. As for McGonagall and Snape, their injuries were minor and shouldn't keep them in here for more than a week."

Harry shook his head, not believing that this situation was actually happening. So, in an effort to alleviate the tension in his mind, he changed the subject. "So, do you believe everything Willow and Xander were saying about how this could be more than just a Voldemort thing?"

Ginny nodded her head, looking at Harry as she did so. She was very grateful at that moment in time that Harry hadn't made her tell him exactly what had happened with Dumbledore. She rather thought he would be shocked that the vampires had done so much so quickly. Indeed, the staff at St. Mungos had had to clean up his injuries quite a bit so he could look the way he did right now, which wasn't saying much as the Headmaster of Hogwarts still looked like death warmed over.

"They're the experts aren't they? I mean we've only had contact with anything more than Death Eater's in the last few years. The Watcher's Council has been dealing with anything and everything for the last few centuries or so. Willow herself has been doing this since she was 15…." She sighed, "And Xander appears to know what he's talking about too."

Harry cleared his throat, Ginny's last comment suddenly making him remember the last section of the conversation he had been having with Willow and her best friend before he had left the apartment for St. Mungos. "Speaking of Xander, is there something you'd like to tell me Ginny?"

Ginny, Harry noticed, suddenly flushed Weasley red. Harry simply smirked and waited for the inevitable explanation.

"Well, he kind of asked me out at the café we were at earlier tonight," she said after a moment, not looking the least bit embarrassed after the initial redness of face.

Harry's brow furrowed in confusion, "Wait, café? What café? Why were you two at a café? And when? We didn't hear you leave…"

"Well you wouldn't have noticed. You were kind of busy having very vocal sex without a silencing charm in the other room," Ginny turned her own smirk on Harry, "That's why we had to leave in the first place. Found your clothes all over the living room too." Harry at least had the decency to blush as he launched into his own explanation.

"Sorry about that," he said sheepishly. "Guess we forgot."

"Yes well, I have to thank you for it, now don't I? Without that distraction I wouldn't have gotten the chance to get to know Willow's best friend and roommate. We wouldn't be going out Friday night either. So thank you," Ginny finished succinctly.

Harry nodded, smiling slightly. Indeed, he was happy for his best friend's sister. She hadn't had a date in years due to her odd hours and Molly had begun to lose hope for her youngest. And Xander, for all Harry's misgivings about anyone that would go out with Ginny, was a good man.

"So Friday then?" Harry said wryly. "How long has it been since you were on a date Ginny? Sure you remember how it's done?"

Ginny punched him lightly in the arm, "Shut up you. Sure it's been awhile but I'm pretty sure I remember how it's done."

"What's it been? A year or so then?" Harry mused, leaning back in the chair he was currently sitting in.

Ginny grimaced, "More like a year and a half. I've been busy."

Harry took her hand, thinking back over the last 2 years. St. Mungos had indeed had more patients being shown through its doors, most due to an increase in Death Eater activity in England. He squeezed slightly, smiling as she returned the squeeze and turned his eyes to the patients in the room. "What were they all doing in Diagon Alley today?"

Ginny cleared her throat, "Interviewing a new teacher. Apparently they still haven't been able to fill the position for Care of Magical Creatures."

Harry nodded, remembering how Hagrid was currently on the hunt with Grawp for more giants on Dumbledore's orders. He still hadn't returned from his mission that the Headmaster had sent him on at the beginning of the summer which was odd, but they had been in contact with him so the Order wasn't overly concerned with the length of time he had been gone.

"But he's going to be okay Harry," Ginny said reassuredly, taking Harry's hand in hers.

"I know Ginny," Harry murmured, his voice low as he looked at the headmaster's seemingly lifeless body. "I know."

And so the two of them sat, putting off the moment that Ginny would have to go back to work and Harry would have to go back to the apartment and face the fact that the battle that they had thought had begun years ago had only really started now.


End file.
